Cienfuegos DESTINATION GUIDE CONTENTS

04 08

01 05 09

02 06 10

03 07 INTRODUCTION

When UNESCO declared conquistadors set off in that the historic centre of 1514 to found the towns of Cienfuegos was a World Trinidad and Sancti Spíritus. Heritage Site in 2005 the And on one Assumption organisation took many Day, Friar Bartolomé de reasons into account. But las Casas gave his famous one of the most important sermon of repentance here, was that the city is the “first before returning to Spain and an outstanding example and dedicating his life to of an architectural ensemble defending the rights of the representing the new ideas native population. In 1745, of modernity, hygiene and long before the city was order in urban planning as founded, Cienfuegos had a these developed in Latin America from the 19th century”. where famous people such as the ballerina Anna Pavlova fortress called Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles (Our Lady of and the Captain General Arsenio Martínez Campos have the Angels) in Jagua. This was quite unusual as it wasn’t Cienfuegos is a neoclassical city that differs from all the stayed. just any old stronghold, but rather the third in importance others in Cuba and America. This is partly because it on the island after the Tres Reyes Magos del Morro (Three was founded late (1819) by French colonists when Cuba But the wealth of heritage does not just lie in the city’s Magi of the Promontory) Fortress in Havana and San Pedro was still under Spanish rule. In its declaration, UNESCO buildings; Cienfuegos is full of history, culture and special de la Roca (St Peter of the Rock) Castle in Santiago de highlights that its architecture evolved from its neoclassical traditions and legends, many dating from before the Cuba. beginnings to become more eclectic, while retaining its Spanish conquest. The waters of the fabulous Jagua harmony as an overall townscape. Particularly interesting Bay bathing the city were home to the Jagua cacicazgo Cienfuegos is the only city in the country with a triumphal buildings are: Government Palace (City Hall), San Lorenzo (chiefdom) of the Ciboney people, who told a fable on arch; singers as famous as Caruso have performed in its School, the Bishopric and Ferrer Palace. And its best the origin of man. According to this famous legend, when Tomás Terry Theatre; the fallen in its battlefields during neoclassical buildings dating from the 19th century include: Guanaroca, the first Ciboney woman, lost her son, her tears the War of Independence include Brigadier General Henry Tomás Terry Theatre, Spanish Casino, Palatino Tavern and gave rise to the rivers, the fish and the keys that today Reeve, fighting for the Cuban Mambí Army, who was Blanco Palace, which is also a Local Monument. The House form the bay. nicknamed the Inglesito (Little Englishman) because he of Lions, the house-warehouse of the Spanish merchant was from the United States; and the greatest Cuban singer, José García de la Noceda, the Customs Building and the This is where Governor Diego de Velázquez and his men the Bárbaro del Ritmo, Benny Moré, began his career in renowned La Unión Hotel, currently managed by Meliá, landed at the beginning of the 16th century. From here the Cienfuegos.

3 The first 01 settlers

Cienfuegos wouldn’t be Cienfuegos without the sea. a narrow, protected entrance channel that amazed craftspeople, manufacturers of phallic idols and cassava Because it’s the sea and its sheltered bay that attracted Sebastián de Ocampo when he sailed around the island graters. They arrived on the island afterwards and the first native settlers and afterwards the Spanish of Cuba in 1509. settled in eastern Cuba by conquering the Ciboney. conquistadors to the area. And these same waters help make Cienfuegos so special, as this Frenchified city’s The first to settle in Cuba were the Guanahatabey and Some of the Ciboney living in the seas south of the architecture and urban development are unique in Cuba, then the peaceful Ciboney, immigrants from the Amazon island’s centre formed the Jagua cacicazgo. These were which is why it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage who travelled to the island by canoe through the bridge the people that started the first legends in the area, Cultural Site in 2005. of the Lesser Antilles, bringing with them their culture such as the one about Guanaroca; fish, turtles and the of shells, snails and small molluscs that were the basis tears shed by this first Ciboney woman when she lost Cienfuegos had Spanish colonists and French founders. of their food and formed their objects. The Ciboney her son, Imao, transformed into Guanaroca Lagoon and But before that its gentle waters cradled Ciboney had some agricultural knowledge and produced very the rivers, peninsulas, keys and lagoons of the fabulous natives from the former Jagua cacicazgo, who settled primitive pots. But their culture was vastly inferior to Jagua Bay, on whose shores Cienfuegos was founded in on the shores of this splendid 88-km2 pocket bay with that of the Taino people, who were ceramicists, textile 1819.

4 Columbus, Diego de Velázquez and 02 Friar Bartolomé de Las Casas

Around 1494, on his had already sent Diego de Velázquez to conquer and out. However, this was second voyage to America, colonise Cuba and become its governor. He was joined where Velázquez ordered Christopher Columbus on that expedition by 300 men, including Hernán Cortes, his men to go out and stopped over in Jagua Pedro Alvarado, Juan de Grijalva and Friar Bartolomé de found Trinidad and Sancti Bay to stock the caravels las Casas as the chaplain. The latter had been the holder Spíritus in 1514 because the La Niña, La Juana and La of an encomienda in Hispaniola and later became the prospects of finding gold- Cordero with water and great defender of the native population’s rights. bearing sands were better wood, thus providing there, a belief that turned Europe with the first This group was joined by Pánfilo de Narváez from out to be false. mention of this place, which Jamaica. He was one of the men responsible for the he called Misas Port. In 1509, when Sebastián de Ocampo famous slaughter in Caonao, a locality near the current In Hispaniola, Friar Bartolomé sailed completely around the island for the first time, he Camagüey, in which the conquistadors massacred had heard the preaching of also stopped over during his long voyage on one of the hundreds of indigenous people in an episode that Las the Dominican Friar Antonio de Montesinos criticising the keys inside the fabulous inlet (the current Cayo Ocampo). Casas brutally described in his “A Short Account of the conquistadors for maltreating the indigenous population; He later informed the King of Spain that “... this port, Destruction of the Indies”. nevertheless, he still defended the encomienda system called Jagua by its inhabitants, is one of the best and and for participating in the colonisation of Cuba he was safest for a thousand ships in the world”. The first town founded in Cuba by Velázquez in the given some indigenous people and land near the mouth of summer of 1511 was Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de the River Arimao in Jagua Bay. The island of Hispaniola Baracoa, in the north-eastern end of the island. It was was the centre of the New followed by San Salvador de Bayamo. Eager to conquer This was where Las Casas realised that this system World at the time. The first more, after overcoming indigenous resistance and burning imposed by the colonists was unfair and so on Assumption encomiendas, the colony’s the Taino chief Hatuey at the stake, Velázquez and his Day, 15 August 1514, aged 30, he set off from Jagua to primitive production men continued to advance towards the west of the island give his famous sermon of repentance in which he publicly system based on enslaving and again reached Jagua Bay. renounced his encomienda and began his fight to defend the indigenous population, the indigenous population in the recently founded town of were established there. By Despite Jagua Bay’s excellent natural conditions and Sancti Spíritus. These historic places can today be visited 1511 the Governor of the fertile soil, gold wasn’t plentiful there and so establishing and form a unique route. Indies, Nicolás de Ovando, a town in that Ciboney cacicazgo (chiefdom) was ruled

5 The first colonists 03 and pirates

Some time after Friar Bartolomé de las Casas left, new who they called Mari. She gave rise to the legend of Spanish colonists peacefully settled on the shores of Marilope symbolised by the yellow flower with an intense Jagua Bay. Agriculture, fishing and livestock rearing were sulphur tone known by this name. It is typical of the safe resources, as was fine hardwood that was abundant southern region where it grows wild in dry and rocky in this place and which centuries later were used to areas. make and repair boats and to build mansions in Havana, Trinidad and, beyond the seas, even to embellish some Both stories, whether real or made up, formed two of rooms and ceilings in the Royal Palace in Madrid. the most wonderful colonial legends of Jagua Bay. And it is no coincidence that both also concerned pirates and It wasn’t strange to see colonists pairing up with corsairs that took refuge in such a sheltered bay or even indigenous women. In the beginning, the governors of temporarily settled in its inner keys. Hispaniola and Cuba even encouraged the new settlers to marry the daughters or relatives of the main chiefs to Famous pirates visiting Jagua Bay were Jacques de Sores expand alliances and increase their wealth with the lands in 1554, Francis Drake in 1586, and John Morgan, Jean the they possessed. Reckless and Gilberto Girón when they were active. The region’s inhabitants traded with them, thus smuggling One of these first Spanish colonists was José Díaz, who out their products as there was no other outlet due to the lived where Jagua Hotel now stands. According to legend, mother country’s restrictive policies. he sheltered a mysterious woman on his ranch who left a pirate in his care and who a few months later became the Quite a few believe that pirates buried the amazing mother of a beautiful girl called Azurina. treasure they plundered in coastal areas, such as Caletón de Don Bruno, Jucaral and west of Cayo Carenas, but Another Spaniard, called Lope, married a beautiful nothing has been found so far. Ciboney woman around 1528 and they had a daughter

6 Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles 04 Fortress in Jagua

A curious fact in the history in Jagua was made in 1742. of Cienfuegos is that it had a Construction was managed fortress (called Our Lady of by the French military the Angels) in its enormous engineer Joseph Tantete, bay before it became a city. who arrived in Cuba in 1732 And it wasn’t just a simple and completed the fortress fort or stronghold, as it was in 1745. Tantete stayed in the third in importance on Cuba and completed several the island after Tres Reyes constructions including the Magos del Morro (Three Magi commemorative column of the Promontory) Castle in erected in Havana in 1754 Havana and San Pedro de la where a ceiba tree once Roca (St Peter of the Rock) stood. The column is still Castle in Santiago de Cuba. preserved at Templete. All three have been declared National Monuments. Set a short distance above the western shoreline, A sustained economy based halfway along the narrow on livestock rearing and entrance to the bay, this is tobacco growing began a solid stone construction to take hold from the end with a cubic structure on of the 16th century. In the two levels with a moat, 18th century, wax, wood drawbridge and a tower and sugar started to become important, although they were were made throughout history to fortify the place and topped by a hemispherical dome resembling an eye watching sold illegally in an unstable market by residents to foreign the situation didn’t change until 1735 when a Royal Order over the ever-tranquil waters. The fortress is protected by a smugglers, who used the bay as they pleased because the authorised the sending of troops to protect the coasts. The high wall hiding the lower level, containing a central courtyard mother country turned a blind eye. Several failed attempts decision to build the Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles Fortress and two sentry boxes at the corners of the firing platform

7 04 NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LOS ÁNGELES FORTRESS IN JAGUA

overlooking the sea. The entire fortress copies the style of the prestigious French engineer Sebastián Le Pestre Vauban, who designed his own fortification system known as Vauban. This system establishes a harmonious relationship between the landscape, relief and geometrical shapes.

The castle was equipped with 10 cannons with different calibres, as this number was deemed sufficient to fend off pirate ships. But they didn’t consider that pirates also had small boats that could enter the huge bay using one of the mouths of Arimao, a river that has two branches, one flowing into the sea and the other, called the Derramadero de las Auras, feeding into Guanaroca Lagoon, which, in turn, is linked to the bay by an estuary. And so, despite the fortress and its cannons, the daring pirates continued to get up to their old tricks in the bay with total impunity and without running any major risks. To stop them from getting in, a palisade had to be built—traces of which can still be seen today—covering the Derramadero de las Auras. This finally freed the bay from regular and inconvenient pirate visits.

In 1762, the fortress played an important role in the history of Cuba when it became a meeting place for Spanish boats and military units deployed in the island’s interior, from where they set off to reconquer Havana, which had been taken by the English. Consequently, the territory became a stronghold of the Spanish military command until the invaders withdrew a year later after agreements with Spain, which preferred to give up Florida rather than the Cuban capital.

The first Commander of the fortress was Juan Castilla Cabeza de Vaca. Besides being in the military, he was a businessman whose initiative led to the first sugar mill in Jagua. Named Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, it was founded on land belonging to the Caunao estate a league away from the bay. Almost from the time it was first built, the fortress has been linked to several legends. The most famous is about the ghost called the Blue Lady.

8 The founding of 05 the settlement and the town

It took 75 years from the Royal Naval Station of Havana, took construction of Jagua Fortress until up again in 1816. Previously, between the city was at last established on 1800 and 1804, Alexander von 22 April 1819, founded by colonists Humboldt had recognised the poor from Bordeaux under the command economic development of the bay of the French Lieutenant Colonel Luis and the relative isolation of its small De Clouet y Favrot. Thus it became population in his studies of Cuba. the only city in America under the Spanish Crown that was planned, In 1817 the International Treaty was designed and founded by the signed establishing the abolition of French. And this fact, coupled with the transatlantic slave trade, one of its appearance and creation, turned the reasons why Captain General José it into the most Frenchified city in Cienfuegos Jovellanos and Intendant Cuba. Alejandro Ramírez encouraged white smallholders capable of making In 1798 the brothers Félix and Cuba self-sufficient to cultivate the Francisco Lemaur, military engineers land. Bishop Espada—Juan José Díaz that were part of the Mopox Espada y Fernández de Landa—also Commission (1796–1802), sons of backed these ideas supporting the the famous Carlos Lemaur, a French proposal De Clouet put forward. military engineer who served King Charles III, designed the first plan to Don Luis Juan Lorenzo De Clouet was found a port city and shipyard on an official born in Bordeaux, France, the Majagua Peninsula of Jagua Bay. and based in Louisiana. Attached It was a proposal that Honorato de to General Staff in Havana in 1818, Bouyón, the Commander of the Corps he suggested founding a colony in of Engineers and Brigadier of the Jagua Bay to the Captain General

9 05 THE FOUNDING OF THE SETTLEMENT AND THE TOWN

José Cienfuegos and the Intendant Ramírez on 1 January 1818. A year previously, taking advantage of his high degree as a Freemason, he had founded the first Masonic Chamber for High Degrees in Cuba in Havana.

On 8 March 1819 De Clouet signed the white colonisation contract with the Captain General and his Intendant based on the Royal Warrant dated 21 October 1817. In the founding proposal, De Clouet included a detailed budget that came to 162,000 pesos. It included transport and settlement costs for the colonists, food and the purchase of farm tools.

In April the doctor Domingo Monjenié and the surveyor Domingo Dubroct arrived in Jagua Bay with 46 French colonists and they settled at the Hurtado site near the banks of the River Salado. They lived in abandoned huts and in eight tents and began to design the first plans. On 19 April Don Agustín de Santa Cruz y de Castilla arrived and convinced De Clouet to move the population to Majagua Peninsula, owned by his wife, Antonia Guerrero, who made the land available to him.

On 22 April 1819, De Clouet took possession of the land in the name of His Majesty the King of Spain in front of the residents who knelt to listen to him under a leafy majagua, the legendary tree that Ciboney fables associated with infidelity. He told the colonists to consider this place as their only homeland, appealed for divine favour and asked for the King’s orders to be observed. He then spoke the motto: Faith, Work and Union.

Second Lieutenant Boullón Turner traced the first residential block from the old majagua tree, and the settlement continued growing with the same straight-line design as new waves of French families arrived from New Orleans, Philadelphia and Baltimore.

A foundation document included the joint decision to name the settlement Fernandina de Jagua. This was changed on 20 May 1829 when the King granted it town status and the name Cienfuegos in honour of Don José Cienfuegos, the island’s Captain General. Cienfuegos was granted city status by Royal Order dated 10 December 1880 in consideration of “the increase in its population, the gradual development of its agricultural and industrial wealth and the importance of its maritime port”.

10 Monument 06 city

Cienfuegos is an exceptional example of 19th-century Latin American town planning. Its elegant and perfect draughtboard design, which extends to its urban limits, is a prime example of neoclassical culture. It also has a wealth of monuments in public spaces and properties of all styles, including magnificent buildings showcasing eclectic, art deco and modern movement architecture. Together they create a constructive coherence that underlines the high urban and architectural value of the ensemble. Cienfuegos is known for the elegant and modern lines of its continuous facades in blocks without porticos, except for buildings in squares and avenues.

Distinguished public spaces, such as the former Plaza de Armas (now José Martí Park)—the founding heart of the city and now considered the most beautiful square in the country—Paseo del Prado, the ensemble’s backbone, and the busy San Fernando boulevard and the pedestrian avenue Santa Isabel, are the main places frequented by Cienfuegos residents for social and leisure activities. Some of the buildings, for example Tomás Terry Theatre, the Cathedral, Government Palace, the House of Lions, Blanco Palace, the former Liceo, the two cemeteries, García de la Noceda House-Warehouse, Ferrer Palace and La Unión Hotel, deserve special attention because they elevate the ensemble and form part of its architectural and environmental harmony. Also extremely significant

11 06 MONUMENT CITY

are its small palaces and array of lookout towers, domes inspires the most care and attention for them. Years of and pediments forming the city’s skyline. These identifying hard systematic preservation work to recover its main elements like no other stand out in the extensive buildings and public spaces, and safeguard the integrity architectural heritage and qualify the urban whole. of the whole rather than just individual constructions, have managed to restore these places and their The city is an unbeatable ensemble of assets closely linked surrounding areas to their splendour for both residents to the sea, which is the real star of the wealth and physical and visitors alike, influenced by a model 19th-century city and spiritual identity of Cienfuegos residents. That is why respected by all. it has been acknowledged nationally and internationally as the Beautiful City of the Sea and the Pearl of the South. As a result, Cienfuegos was declared a National This bay, the constant refuge of the most well-known Monument in 1995, the only city founded in the 19th corsairs and pirates, was called the Great Port of the century granted this category. Later the UNESCO World Americas before Cienfuegos was founded. It’s a nickname Heritage Committee, at its 29th annual session held that recognises the excellent conditions of its pocket bay, in Durban, South Africa, on 15 July 2005, unanimously a source of inspiration and wealth, a shell opening to the approved to grant the Urban Historic Centre of Cienfuegos world with major environmental, commercial and tourism the category of Cultural World Heritage as Cienfuegos possibilities. is the first exceptional example of an architectural ensemble representing the new ideas of modernity, Not only does the historic centre of Cienfuegos contain the hygiene and order in the urban design of Latin America in city’s most valuable cultural and historical assets, it also the 19th century.

12 07 Architecture

Plaza de Armas square It is also linked to the touching legend of the mermaid Aycayia and thus keeps the memory of the indigenous (now José Martí Park) population’s century-old majagua tree alive. Believed by the Ciboney to be a charm to prevent infidelity, the tree 19th century–beginning of 20th century. later bore witness to the sacred ritual of blessing the site and its first settlers.

The main administrative, religious and social buildings are found in this area: the City Hall, the Cathedral, Tomás Terry Theatre, the former San Lorenzo School, the Spanish Casino, Ferrer Palace, Palatino and other domestic buildings. Designed by the colony’s founder and surveyor, it followed the monumental lines of design devised by the 1798 engineers. Today we can marvel at its size compared with other 19th-century Cuban cities. Its highlights include the sculptures in honour of José Martí, the arbour, the only triumphal arch in Cuba erected to commemorate the establishment of the Republic, the two lions carved out of marble at one of its entrances, symbol of the monarchy, and the fountains and busts erected in The architectural and urban basis of Cienfuegos can memory of famous Cienfuegos residents. It is amazing be seen in this square, where architectural styles how residential, government, teaching, religious and demonstrate the representative importance of its city public entertainment functions have blended together in status. The foundation square was the starting point for the extensive space without altering the elegance and the design of the city, marked by a large granite circle. uniformity of the ensemble.

13 07 ARCHITECTURE

Purísima Concepción Luis D’Clouet’s House

(Our Lady of the Immaculate Calle 29, no. 5402 on the corner with Avenue 54 Conception) Cathedral (Santa Isabel on the corner with San Fernando) The house belonged to the city’s founder, Don Louis Calle 29, no. 5406 on the corner with Avenida 56 de Clouet. Its current appearance has stayed the (Santa Isabel on the corner with San Carlos) same since it was rebuilt in 1841. Given the year when it was built, it is one of the oldest and most It was erected in 1819 in the city’s foundation square and important buildings in the city, linked to the memory later rebuilt and then redeveloped into its current state of the colony’s founder. Especially noteworthy by the US engineer James Murray between 1867 and 1870. are its simple lines and sound construction of its The facade is neoclassical with the use of the Doric order portico overlooking the square. The second floor, both inside and out, and its towers are strangely irregular set back from the facade line, allowed its owners as their width and height differ. The residents organised a to participate and be seen in the Plaza de Armas, a public collection to construct the first smaller tower, which solution that augmented their social status. was not removed during the extension works, resulting in this unusual asymmetry in a neoclassical church. It has 12 chapels, six on each side, inspired by the symbology of the 12 Apostles, which is also seen in the 12 top stained-glass City Hall / Headquarters of windows. Two more chapels are at the front, one dedicated to Christ and the other to Our Lady. The parish house at the Poder Popular Provincial the back of the cathedral, built at the start of the 20th (Provincial People’s Power) century, is neo-Gothic in style, which is more in keeping with ecclesiastical devotion. Avenida 54, no. 2704–2706 on the corner with Calle 29 (San Fernando on the corner with Santa Isabel)

The agreement to build the current Provincial Palace in the city dates from 1928 when the National Capitol created a trend for monumental domes. However, the architect Talleda Lugones responded to this desire with a cultured European reference and built a Tuscan dome, which was to serve as a visual landmark in the city, as part of his design for the City Hall based on the style of the famous Florence Cathedral. The building was opened on 20 May 1950 and setting for one of the first revolutionary events in Cienfuegos, its monumental style of modern historicism was soon the the uprising of 5 September 1957.

14 07 ARCHITECTURE

Spanish Casino / San Lorenzo and Santo Tomás Schools

Provincial Museum 5 de Septiembre Basic Secondary School. Avenida 56, no. 2703 on the corner with Calle 29 (San Carlos on the corner with Santa Isabel) Avenida 54, no. 2702 on the corner with Calle 27 (San Fernando on the corner with San Luis) Following the desires of Don Nicolás Acea expressed in his 19th-century will, the engineer Jorge Lafuente completed the building for the San Lorenzo School (for boys) and the Santo Tomás School (for girls) between 1926 in 1927. Both were to honour the memory of his deceased son Tomás Lorenzo. The minimum capacity was 200 girls and 200 boys with separate entrances. The building’s symmetrical inner structure and axial composition of its facade respond to its pupils’ different genders. The main facade overlooking the square is harmonious in design around a strictly classic pediment and two side sections for each school.

In the last decades of the 19th century, the colonial power promoted Spanish education and leisure associations Domingo Sarría Valdespino’s and friendly societies since the Cuban people’s separatist leanings rose after the first War of Independence. Spanish House / today Bar Palatino casinos built in the main cities were one of the outcomes. The casino in Cienfuegos was completed by the master Avenida 54, no. 2512 and 2514 on the corner with builder Juan Pons between 1891 and 1893 and it is one of Calle 27 (San Fernando on the corner with San Luis) the best examples of its type. It is classically academic in style, with beautiful arcades overlooking the square. Inside Believed to be one of the oldest buildings in Cienfuegos, the decor boasts iron railings, stained-glass windows, which is why it is different from others surrounding the marble floors and paintings on the panels covering the Plaza Mayor or Martí Park. It was built of stone with ceilings and walls of its rooms. a tile roof as a home at the beginning of the 1840s. In the 1850s it was bought as a residence by a rich sugar- The institution continued throughout the 20th century plantation owner from Trinidad Domingo Sarría. Its low despite the increase in Spanish emigration. Cienfuegos facade and arcades with oblong arches make it look opened a high-profile sanatorium for the local Spanish primitive, an impression consolidated by its undulating colony in the first decade of the century financed by baroque moulding on its side facade and, above all, by the casino’s shareholders. With a total of eight sections the curious bottle shape of its column shafts, which is distributed in an original layout, it is still used today as a not very common on the island. These details turn it into later lent towards the uniform 19th-century modernity of community polyclinic. an exceptional example of Cienfuegos architecture, which neoclassicism.

15 07 ARCHITECTURE

Lázaro Díaz de Tuesta’s House and neoclassical homes new residential buildings surrounding the square. There are two lines or strips of facades built on both sides of the open Cuban Fund of Cultural Assets. Avenida 54, no. 2506 between Calle 25 and Calle 27 space, north and south, with only three years difference (San Fernando between Bouyón and San Luis) / Universal Art Gallery. Avenida 56, no. 2505 between them. Instead of fragmenting the continuous between Calle 25 and 27 (San Carlos between Bouyón and San Luis) effect of the facades, they managed to maintain it with a unitary design to make it seem just one monumental building.

The first, built in 1890, has more solid and compact arches and columns, while the second, dating from 1893, has a more highly refined classically academic decor in a series of Roman arcades with profuse mouldings. They maintain a visual rhythm of well-proportioned pilasters, entablatures, cornices and balustrades forming an extraordinary architectural gallery of such expressive quality that few Cuban cities can boast of. Behind these two portico sections are the inner openings of the facade of houses with a Both residential developments, dating from the 1890s, Plaza de Armas and the construction quality that had to be unitary design, a wealth of railings and equally valuable highlight the hierarchy and importance of the space in maintained by municipal authorities and private owners in joinery.

Ferrer Palace / Benjamín Duarte House of Culture

Calle 25, no. 5401–5403 on the corner with Avenida 54 (Bouyón on the corner with San Fernando)

Ferrer Palace, the residence of the Catalan merchant and and plasterwork, especially the ceiling of the main function sugar-plantation owner José Ferrer Sirés, was built between room that boasts rococo decoration. Especially noteworthy 1917 and 1918 by the Cienfuegos engineer and architect is the artistic quality of the colour tilework enamelled with Pablo Donato Carbonell, who graduated in Barcelona. metal highlights. Its owner became famous when Enrico The project abandoned the neoclassical style that was Caruso stayed in his recently completed house and he previously dominant in the houses around José Martí Park drove the tenor around the city in his car. to seek a more individual stylistic expression and eclectic decoration that was unlike familiar orders. The balconies The architect Carbonell was responsible for a similar project that jut out on the top floor adopt a variety of solutions, with a decorated balcony on the corner in the building for especially the circular balcony with the mirador above, the shop El Palo Gordo, which he built in 1914 where Calle which focuses expressive attention on the corner where it 54 meets Calle 33. It was one of the first buildings in the is located. The main rooms contain magnificent ironwork city to use reinforced concrete.

16 07 ARCHITECTURE

Tomás Terry Theatre The Royal Bank of Canada and Art Deco apartment building

Avenida 56, no. 2701 on the corner with Calle National Bank of Cuba Calle 35, no. 5809 between Avenida 58 and Avenida 27 (San Carlos on the corner with San Luis) 60 (Gazel between Santa Cruz and Santa Elena) Credit and Commerce Bank. Avenida 56, no. 5603 on the corner with Calle 31 (San Carlos on the The Art Deco style with its colourful linear design was well corner with D’Clouet) / Popular Savings Bank. received in Cuban cities as it allowed taste to update to the Avenida 52, no. 5019 on the corner with Calle 31 fashion of graphic propaganda with more functional and (Argüelles on the corner with D’Clouet) less cluttered designs. This apartment building erected in 1939 is the most important example of the new style In the first decades of the 20th century banks multiplied with playing with colour and decoration to achieve its modern the introduction of foreign capital and the country’s financial effect. development. The branches these firms opened in the island’s population centres were identified by a typical architectural design that was repeated in the most prosperous cities. Two of these administrative buildings typical of the time and now over a century old have been preserved in Cienfuegos: the Royal Bank The theatre was built by the Terry family to honour of Canada and the National Bank of Cuba. Both reproduce the Don Tomás Terry y Adán, a wealthy merchant and components of classical language on their facades to offer an city benefactor. In an exceptional case in colonial image of power, security and confidence to their customers by architecture, the design was put up for tender using coupled Corinthian columns. The branch of the Royal Bank and won by the Lieutenant Colonel of Engineers of Canada, a foreign banking firm that has been established Lino Sánchez Mármol, who was also in charge of in Cuba since the 19th century, stands out for combining the building it. Work began on 29 December 1887 and manager’s residence with the ground floor for offices and cash the building was opened on 12 February 1890. Like desks behind the same facade. This made it necessary to use a all the theatres built in the 19th century, it has a monumental order of coupled columns to make the whole look typical horseshoe auditorium that can hold 1,200 grand and solid and to imitate the texture of stone blocks on spectators decorated in a sober style. Together the exterior walls. with Esteban or Sauto (1863) in Matanzas, and La Caridad (1885) in Santa Clara, it is one of the three most important and best preserved colonial theatres in the country. The sculpture of Tomás Terry, a work of art with great artistic and historic value by the Italian sculptor Tomasso Solari, made of white marble in Naples, was erected inside in 1889. Internationally famous figures and cast have trodden its boards: Enrico Caruso, Jorge Negrete, Anna Pavlova, Sarah Bernhardt, Ernesto Lecuona and Bola de Nieve, to name but a few.

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La Unión Hotel purchased from his brother-in-law Pedro Dorticós, a descendant of the first French colonists of Jagua. In 1885, Natividad Terry Calle 31, no. 5401 on the corner with Avenida 54 Dorticós, resident in France, joined this land inherited from his (D’Clouet on the corner with San Fernando) parents to construct a three-storey building that is the current hotel, which he leased to Faustino Forbés. It soon became In the second half of the 19th century, the port of famous and received guests from Cuba and abroad who came Cienfuegos had overtaken Trinidad’s as the sugar export for the quality of its services, its speciality French cuisine and port and it was an active meeting point for the island’s for having electric light throughout its premises. The island’s southern cabotage shipping lines and commercial traffic in Captain General Arsenio Martínez Campos was staying there the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic. This commercial when he received notice that the Spanish army had been boom led to buildings offering accommodation. One of defeated on 15 December 1895 in the Bad Weather Battle. the oldest and largest hotels was La Unión, built on land The following century, its guests included celebrities from a variety of professions and ranks, such as the world chess that the Venezuelan merchant Tomás Terry y Adán had champion José Raúl Capablanca, the ballerina Anna Pavlova, and the Cuban president Tomás Estrada Palma.

San Carlos Hotel Compañía de Seguros

Avenida 56, no. 3303–3309 between Calle 33 and y Fianzas Calle 35 (San Carlos between Hourruitiner and Gazel) Organización Básica Eléctrica The construction of San Carlos Hotel was begun in 1921. Designed by (electricity company). the architect Alfredo Colli Franconetti, the architect Joaquín Carbonell Avenida 56, no. 5602–5604 Cabrera took over as manager of the project until it was completed on the corner with Calle 33 in 1924. The street it is named after inherited an old legend from the (San Carlos on the corner times when it was one of the borders of the new town where residents with Hourruitiner) were haunted by a ghostly caiman. Now it was the site of modernity in Cienfuegos where the new hotel was erected as a six-storey property The property built next to San Carlos Hotel was with a roof garden, imitating the style of US buildings that were going the administrative building of the Compañía up in Havana at the time. However, this was quite a challenge far from de Seguros y Fianzas insurance firm. The work the capital, since the new metal structures for this type of building were of the architect and engineer Luis Gálvez in difficult to erect outside the sphere of the construction companies in 1923, it was similar in style but lower, thus Havana. adding to the modern visual ensemble of the urban landscape of Cienfuegos with its shapes. It was the highest building in the central region of Cuba, considered Designed as a functional building with no the city’s most outstanding vista point, and it had 80 rooms on its four continuous balconies, its main section, fretted accommodation levels. As a result, it was a visual focus of interest by the isolated openings of numerous rooms, in the urban structure and a valuable example of civil and public is only decorated by lines of pilasters up to the architecture. height of overhanging eaves.

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Blanco Palace Cienfuegos Independent

Office and trade building. Avenida 54, no. 3301–3307, 5402–5404 on the corner with Calle 33 Customs House (San Fernando on the corner with Hourruitiner) Avenida 46, no. 2901 between Calle 29 and Calle 31 motif, a symbol of (La Mar between Santa Isabel and D’Clouet) Cuba, perhaps the only one used in this type of figurative decoration. The star of this palace is an imperial staircase (two flights) made of fine Cuban hardwood. It links the floors and the mezzanine until it ends in two spiral staircases leading to the mirador tower. It is one of the most beautiful The construction of buildings to be used as custom houses is Like most 19th-century Cuban ports, the link between residences outside the country’s capital and one a long-standing tradition that resulted in significant designs the merchant’s or sugar-plantation owner’s house and of the most valuable examples of 19th-century within Cuban architecture. The laws of the Indies included the storage of his products led to a variety of extremely domestic Cuban architecture because of its formal the customs house as one of the buildings to be erected in important architectural solutions for the heritage of and functional composition, the materials used and the ports and the first public building built on the island old towns. Not only were they large and spacious, but its architectural and decorative assets. in the 16th century was the customs house in Havana. The their designs were also highly original. This remarkable first design by the Lemaur engineers to urbanise Majagua house, whose construction began between 1871 and 1878, Although it looks like just one building, it is actually peninsula included a special location for the customs house owned by the sugar-plantation owner José Quesada, was the union of two and it has been categorised as a overlooking an open square in the harbour, and the founding completed by Manuel de Blanco. His name was forever Local Monument since 1990. It has been used by of Cienfuegos soon included the proposal in its building linked to the palace, which is how the locals called the the Spanish Bank, Cervantes Bookshop, the Record programme. Its customs house is one of the oldest public largest residences of this kind. Designed as a house- House, a milk storage facility, a pharmacy, Arco buildings of its type on the island, constructed by the master warehouse, it is arranged around a large square courtyard House, La Perla textile shop, the Provincial Offices of builder Manuel Zumalave between 1841 and 1842. The building, with a wealth of construction solutions. The facade is the Committees for the Defence of the Revolution, with spacious dimensions and rooms for storing goods, has adorned with traditional neoclassical elements: Tuscan the Catholic Association of the Knights of Columbus, a wide facade that prioritised the main entrance with semi- pilasters, straight overhangs and cornices. The balustrade the notary’s office of Federico Laredo Bru (he was circular arches on the ground floor and iron balconies on the protecting the balcony forms an intricate lace of flowers president of the republic for a brief period), the floors above. It has a strategic location overlooking an open and the stained-glass windows incorporate the Royal Palm University Chapter, El Embajador shop and so on. space that served as an antechamber from the wharves.

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García de la Noceda Paseo del Prado

House-Warehouse Calle 37 between Avenida 40 (Campomanes) and Avenida 72.

Offices. Avenida 52, no. 2913–2915 on the corner with Calle 31 (Argüelles on the corner with D’Clouet)

The house-warehouse built by the Spanish merchant José García de la Noceda in 1881 near the port area is one of the finest of its kind on the island. Its owner, the classic poor emigrant who made his fortune in America, took great Some of the highlights of this majestic building pains in constructing an eminent architectural version are its white marble staircaseleading to the of his palace. Today it stands out due to its large scale large upper rooms, decorated with murals on and the severity of its neoclassical two-storey facade the walls and ceilings; its stained-glass windows on which he placed a mirador in the centre topped by a with several colours and designs ranging from dome as an observation point of trade in the bay. It has a simple rectangular fanlight to a semi-circular two well differentiated levels: the first floor used as a arch; and its iron railings. According to the From early on this wide boulevard became the thoroughfare between warehouse and profit-making area; and the second used historian Joaquín Weiss, this house-warehouse, the town and its region. The foundational layout by De Clouet and the as a residence and offices based on a traditional functional out of all the residential urban constructions, surveyor Famada included two tree-lined boulevards to the east and distribution dating from the 18th century in the ports of is “the best in Cienfuegos of its kind (...) large west of the urban centre as appeared in the 1798 design drawn by the Cuba and the Caribbean in general. It was also known as with simple, strong shapes comparable with the Lemaur brothers. But due to its position in the peninsula, the town had Cacicedo Palace, the surname of one of its later owners. best properties of its kind in the capital”. to grow towards the east and the boulevard located in this direction, called Vives in honour of Cuba’s governor at the time, Dionisio Vives, was the most useful and was widened to 40 yards (34 m). From then on House owned by the it became the backbone of the settlement’s expansion, supporting new streets and plots along its length. However, regulations stated that it Falla Bonet family was a broad thoroughfare, with compulsory porticos at the sides, and not a tree-lined boulevard with gardens and flower beds. Municipal Headquarters of the Communist Party of Cuba. Avenida 56, 3311 between Calle 33 and 35 The pedestrian structure it has today was the initiative of residents (San Carlos between Hourruitiner and Gazel) between 1911 and 1913, funded by public collection and perhaps encouraged by the boulevard in Havana that it was named after. The In the early 20th century, a branch of the powerful Falla popular Cienfuegos Prado has become the longest boulevard in Cuba of family, Spanish sugar-plantation owners and merchants, its type. Not only does it have trees, but also sculptures, benches and built a house in the compact part of the city along the lamp posts and all the components needed to encourage pedestrian persistent lines of Blanco Palace and García Noceda’s participation framed by an ensemble of extremely valuable architectural House, but with a more residential function. Inside it has famous decorative elements are the stucco and social buildings. It also meant the former Plaza Mayor was no granite floors and hydraulic mosaics and one of the most cherubs on the ceiling in the main room. longer in a central position.

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Important 20th-century buildings in the Paseo del Prado House of Lions

and the residence of Pedro Aragonés Calle 37, no. 5804–5806 between Avenida 58 and Avenida 60 (Paseo del Prado Calle 37, no. 5805–5807–5809 between Avenida 58 and Avenida 60 (Paseo del Prado between Santa Cruz between Santa Cruz and Santa Elena) and Santa Elena), Calle 37, no. 4816–4818 between Avenida 48 and 50 (Paseo del Prado between Dorticós and Santa Clara) / Calle 37, no. 4213–4215 between Avenida 42 and Avenida 44 Built in 1871 by José Antonio Capote it is known as (Paseo del Prado between Cisneros and Zaldo) the House of Lions because of the two large iron lion figures standing in its wide portico, brought from a Architecturally important residences several storeys high with upper balconies overlooking the boulevard were built in villa in the city of Trinidad that belonged to the sugar- the Paseo del Prado in the first half of the 20th century. They stand out due to their profuse moulded cement decoration plantation owner Justo Germán Cantero, the author of with plant motifs, decorated corbels and capitals, all with the most refined details. The heavy volume of stone and the text of the famous lithographic album Los Ingenios masonry walls of the previous century have made way for the lightness and transparency achieved with reinforced (The Sugar Mills). This house was built on a wide raised concrete. The external and internal decorative elements of these houses, the use of floral motifs, delicately made iron terrace that isolates it from the street traffic and railings and frosted glass, are crucial and unique for the city as they lend great elegance to the most important linear makes its Tuscan column portico feel like a monument. and pedestrian thoroughfare in the city of Cienfuegos. Its inner facade has high cast iron railings topped by cone-shaped overhangs, Andalusian traditional motifs, which, together with its lions and its high portico, are unusual in the rest of the city and have earned it public admiration. Declared a Local Monument in 1990.

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The cemeteries

Tomás Acea Cemetery. Avenida 5 de Septiembre no. 8302 between Calle 83 and 85, southeast of the city / Reina Cemetery. Calle Villegas between Avenida 48 and Avenida 50. La Reina Neighbourhood

The construction of cemeteries away from churches and enclosed within the perimeter and have a gateway, in was updating Cienfuegos architecture with his works at outside the urban area began at the beginning of the 19th this case a classic sober pediment. A century of exclusive the time, was commissioned with the design. Completed century in Cuba in a reaction to progress made in public use gathered together a collection of high quality marble in 1926, the construction is considered to have given hygiene and the fight against old customs. The new funeral sculptures and tombstones, such as the well-known Sleeping Cienfuegos one of the best burial grounds in the country. constructions in Cuban cities became modern and complexes Beauty, and formed a complex that today stands out due to Designed as a beautiful cemetery-garden, the only one of were opened in which the porticos, chapels and sculptural the integrity of its original structure. The General Cemetery, its kind in Cuba, it takes advantage of the rolling terrain to monuments linked artistic quality to moral sentiment and or Reina Cemetery, is unique in the country due to its main integrate the tombs into the surrounding landscape. The the social representation of family. Out of all the cities in courtyard surrounded by three rows of vertical niches. large entrance porticos echo the classical style, but with a Cuba, Cienfuegos is the only one that has two of the most new historic version in the city due to its strict adherence valuable funerary architectural sites in the country, declared Part of the legacy of Nicolás Acea de los Ríos, a teacher to Festus’s Greek order. The cemetery has 17.6 hectares and National Monuments, that show how taste developed from and sugar-plantation owner linked to the Terry family is divided into sections by interior avenues. Each section one century to another in this construction genre. by marriage and who died in 1904 leaving 300,000 pesos contains a tree species that it is named after, The Pines, to charity, was set aside by his executors to build a new The Tamarinds, The Cypresses, and so on. It is a valuable Reina cemetery, opened in 1839, was the most common type cemetery that would be named after his deceased son. example of the most modern US concepts of funerary of complex where the pantheons and niches are compactly The architect and engineer Pablo Donato Carbonell, who facilities.

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Valle Palace and Jagua Hotel

Avenida 0 on the corner with Calle 37 (Pedro Antonio Aragonés) and Avenida 2 between Calle 37 (Pedro Antonio Aragonés) and the coastline

Alfredo Colli with the master builder Suárez between 1913 and 1917.

The building progressed during World War I when sugar prices led to the boom years in the Cuban economy, a brief time to realise architectural dreams, such as Valle Palace, one of the most significant on the island. Although its facades and ground floor mostly remind us of Arab- Spanish architecture, the interiors are decorated with the most varied European styles, primitive Gothic, Imperial, Louis XVI and on the top floor, the least decorated area, the Venetian style predominates. A phrase taken from the Koran was repeated in relief on the plastered and painted walls of the main rooms: “Only God is God”. The eclectic fantasy created an architecture suited to enjoying architecture as history, emulating film scenes. Materials La Punta, or Punta Gorda, is a residential area in the and craftspeople were brought in from other countries. Nepomechie, well known at the time for the construction south of the city. A place of great natural beauty, it The materials—marble, alabaster, bronze, ceramics and of important projects such as Eugenio Leal’s House in the affords a splendid panorama of the entire bay and the glass—were imported from Spain, Italy and the United Miramar Neighbourhood, where the mature reinforced Escambray mountain range. The site of old indigenous States, except for the fine Cuban hardwood. There concrete technique was combined with the artistic murals legends recreated by Adrián del Valle, it attracted the are three minarets and an arbour on its flat roof. The of Mario Carreño and Amelia Peláez. The hotel was opened construction of the first recreational villas in Cienfuegos perimeter iron railing, classified as Muslim, was considered on 31 December 1959 with 144 rooms and two suites over at the end of the 19th century. One of them, located in the a real work of craftsmanship. Its owner was not able to seven floors at a cost of two and a half million dollars. It best position overlooking the sea, owned by the merchant enjoy his fabulous palace for long as he died in Spain in is considered a valuable reminder of rationalism in Cuba. Celestino Caces, was known as the Moor’s Villa due to its 1919 and his descendants soon left to live on the peninsula. Every room has private balconies providing a vista point to Arab-Spanish style. It was purchased by Alejandro Suero enjoy the lush seascape, its bay, the Escambray mountains Balbín who gave it as a wedding present to his daughter In the 1950s, open to tourist investments, the residence and the city of Cienfuegos. Its architecture contains pure, Amparo and his son-in-law, the Asturian Acisclo del Valle took another turn. José López Vilaboy, the front man for simple, straight-line solutions, since it was designed as an y Blanco, the owner of several plants. He took advantage Fulgencio Batista, established the Compañía de Fomento open complex with no barriers, in which its picturesque of the exotic inspiration of the existing property and y Turismo de Cienfuegos, S.A. in partnership with Acisclo main oblong facade elegantly inflects in the centre at the incorporated it into the majestic construction of a Moorish Valle’s widow and heirs to build a motel in the gardens and height of the lift shaft, thus banishing all monotony. It has palace behind it designed by the architect and engineer a casino in the palace. The design was commissioned to the balconies whose balustrades are a series of bright colours, Pablo Donato Carbonell and built by the Italian architect firm run by the architects Eduardo Cañas Abril and Nujim making it look pleasing to the eye.

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Blue Palace and Chalía Cacicedo House Cienfuegos Yacht Club

Palacio Azul Hotel. Calle 37 (Pedro Antonio Aragonés) on the corner with Avenida 12 / Calle 37 between Avenida 8, Avenida 12 Hostal Encanto, Green House. Calle 37 (Pedro Antonio Aragonés) between Avenida 0 and Avenida 2. and the coastline Punta Gorda Neighbourhood

The villas in the Punta Gorda Neighbourhood adjoining the sea became permanent residences for some affluent families rather than summer homes as they were close to the city, yet far enough removed from the hustle and bustle of daily life in the centre. They transferred their residential models there, now detached houses surrounded by large gardens in a calm setting with privileged natural views. The Blue Palace, built in 1925 for the Menéndez Acebal family by the architect and civil engineer Federico Navarro, is one of these elegant examples. Considerable in size and surrounded by porticos and loggias, it has beautiful shutters and is topped by a mirador with an enamel dome on the flat roof. The Green House is a short distance away. This is another residence characterised by the use of colour, built around 1935 by Chalía Cacicedo. It has large rooms and terraces with sea views and profuse decoration inside and also its own bathing area.

Water sports clubs began to pop up in Cuba in the early 20th century. Similar to the yacht clubs in the United States and Britain, they were not just for this type of sailing, but also for rowing and swimming. In general, they operated as exclusive associations that also held social events and their buildings grouped together members of the local bourgeoisie. Cienfuegos Yacht Club, designed by the architect Pablo Donato Carbonell, was one of the first to erect its building on the island with an architectural quality similar to internationally famous casinos and sport centres. It was only comparable in the country at the time with the Vedado Tennis Club in Vedado in Havana. It is an elegantly decorated property on a large plot with space to achieve a beautiful perspective of its facade, and a balanced distribution with two side sections topped by picturesque towers. The flat roof was designed as a large observation deck. According to local legends, the Marilope episode happened here. The daughter of a Spanish colonist, she became a victim of pirates and lent her name to a marvellous yellow flower.

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Wooden houses in Punta Gorda

Puyín House. Calle 35, no. 4 between Avenida 0 and the coastline, Villa Amparo / Educator’s House. Calle 35, no. 26 between Avenida 0 and the coastline and Celestino Caces’s House / “El Castillito” Guesthouse. Calle 35, no. 6 between Avenida 0 and the coastline. La Punta.

Cuban cities contain valuable examples of wooden La Punta. For example, the Serafín Ros, Ramón Entensa their wooden structure and French tiled roofs and they architecture, sometimes with bungalow or balloon frame and Celestino Cases houses, built in the 19th and 20th stand out due to their profuse carpentry decoration with influences. Some of the best in Cienfuegos are grouped in centuries by the master builder Domingo Ferreiro, preserve beautiful corbels, lambrequins and shutters.

The eclectic houses of their exceptional decoration and the wealth of materials used. Alejandro Suero’s houses are profusely decorated Alejandro Suero Balbín and have differing facades with designs combining baroque adornments, human figures, lions and garlands. Avenida 52, no. 2706 and no. 2704, The interiors have ceilings exquisitely plastered with between Calle 27 and Calle 29 gypsum and decorated with frescoes alluding to French (Argüelles between San Luis and Santa Isabel) romanticism, marble floors and mosaics, beautifully decorated partitions and highly elaborate iron railings. Both adjoining excellent properties were built by the The exceptional decoration of these properties, located Italian architect and engineer Alfredo Fontana Giugni for in the centre of the city’s uniform, rational layout Alejandro Suero Balbín in the first decades of the 20th conveys a message of diversity and creativity that century at the same time as the owner’s son-in-law built turns them into landmarks of domestic architecture in Valle Palace. The two constructions are also linked by Cienfuegos.

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Cienfuegos Liceo Liceos dated from the 19th century and grouped Cayo Loco Southern Naval District together white families with more financial Roberto García Valdés Provincial Library, Calle 37, resources in the cities in the island’s interior. In Naval History Museum. no. 5615 on the corner with Avenida 58 1921 the architects Pablo Donato Carbonell Ferrer Avenida 60 on the corner with Calle 23 (Paseo del Prado on the corner with Santa Cruz). and the engineer Alfredo Colli completed the (Santa Elena on the corner with Velazco) construction of this splendid property that stands out from all the other buildings on the Paseo del Cayo Loco (Mad Key), previously known as Cayo Güije, Prado due to its size and decoration. Although it the setting for the fabulous legend of the Black Venus, isn’t easy to define its neo style, it is attributed to who embodies the silent protest against slavery, is the French Renaissance. Its distribution is typical the closest to Cienfuegos in the Bay. It was owned by of buildings of this type; large in scale, the main several colonists until it was purchased by the Colonial room is on a second level covered by a mansard Navy at the end of the 19th century when Spanish rule ceiling decorated with gypsum moulding in the ended. The coastguard service moved there in 1902. style of Louis XV. In the centre of the moulding It was declared the Southern Naval District in 1935 the space opens for the city’s shield, beautiful and the main naval strategies of the central southern hanging lamps, wall lamps and art nouveau region of Cuba were developed and implemented in partitions form and divide other spaces that were this area. It attained most historic significance as previously used for bars and table games. one of the main settings of the armed uprising of 5 September 1957. Since 1980 it has housed the Naval History Museum with large outdoor areas where Nuestra Señora de Montserrat Jesuit School authentic, original and unique exhibitions of interest showcase naval and nautical development in Cuba. Basic Secondary School D1. Avenida 54, Calle 45, Avenida 56 and Calle 47 (San Fernando, Cid, San Carlos and O’Donell)

Religious orders played an important role in education in Cuba in the 19th century, emulating secular schools. The Jesuits established a secondary school in Cienfuegos in 1884 and 1919 to educate male students from the centre of Cuba as borders. The Society of Jesus School still amazes us due to its large capacity, since it had five storeys, including the basement. The left wing was used temporarily as a church at the end of the century. It affords an impressive image of solid proportions and barely any adornment, designed to reflect the order’s characteristics of discipline and strictness typical of this school’s teaching system. Declared a Local Monument in 1990.

26 Our 08 heritage hotels

La Unión Hotel purchased from his brother- in-law Pedro Dorticós, a Calle 31, no. 5401 on the corner with Avenida 54 descendant of Jagua’s first (D’Clouet on the corner with San Fernando) French colonists. In 1885, Natividad Terry Dorticós, resident in France, joined this land inherited from his parents to construct a three-storey building that is the current hotel, which he leased to Faustino Forbés. It soon became famous and received guests from Cuba and abroad who came for the quality of its services, its speciality French cuisine and for having electric light throughout its premises. The island’s Captain General Arsenio Martínez Campos was staying there when he received notice that the Spanish army had been defeated on 15 December 1895 in the Bad Weather In the second half of the 19th century, the port of Cienfuegos had overtaken Trinidad’s as Battle. The following the sugar export port and it was an active meeting point for the island’s southern cabotage century, its guests included shipping lines and commercial traffic in the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic. This celebrities from a variety of professions and ranks, such as the world chess champion José commercial boom led to buildings offering accommodation. One of the oldest and largest Raúl Capablanca, the ballerina Anna Pavlova, and the Cuban president Tomás Estrada hotels was La Unión, built on land that the Venezuelan merchant Tomás Terry y Adán Palma.

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San Carlos Hotel

Avenida 56, no. 3303–3309 between Calle 33 and Calle 35 (San Carlos between Hourruitiner and Gazel)

The construction of San six-storey property with a Carlos Hotel was begun roof garden, imitating the in 1921. Designed by the style of US buildings that architect Alfredo Colli were going up in Havana Franconetti, the architect at the time. However, this Joaquín Carbonell Cabrera was quite a challenge far took over as manager of from the capital, since the project until it was the new metal structures completed in 1924. The for this type of building street it is named after were difficult to erect inherited an old legend outside the sphere of the from the times when construction companies it was one of the new in Havana. It was the town’s borders where highest building in the residents were haunted central region of Cuba, by a ghostly caiman. In considered the city’s most the end, it turned out to outstanding vista point, be a scoundrel disguising and it had 80 rooms on himself as a predator to its four accommodation rob the inhabitants of levels. As a result, it was a their birds, cattle, pigs visual focus of interest in and horses. Now it was the urban structure and a the site of modernity in valuable example of civil Cienfuegos where the new and public architecture. hotel was erected as a

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Valle Palace and Jagua Hotel

Avenida 0 on the corner with Calle 37 (Pedro Antonio Aragonés) and Avenida 2 between Calle 37 (Pedro Antonio Aragonés) and the coastline.

La Punta, or Punta Gorda, is a residential area in the south Alejandro Suero Balbín who gave it as a wedding present of the city. A place of great natural beauty, it affords a to his daughter Amparo and his son-in-law, the Asturian splendid panorama of the entire bay and the Escambray Acisclo del Valle y Blanco, the owner of several plants. He mountain range. The site of old indigenous legends, such took advantage of the exotic inspiration of the existing as the one about Díaz, recreated by Adrián del Valle, it property and incorporated it into the majestic construction attracted the construction of the first recreational villas of a Moorish palace behind it designed by the architect in Cienfuegos at the end of the 19th century. One of them, and engineer Pablo Donato Carbonell and built by the located in the best position overlooking the sea, owned by Italian architect Alfredo Colli with the master builder the merchant Celestino Caces, was known as the Moor’s Suárez between 1913 and 1917. Villa due to its Arab-Spanish style. It was purchased by

29 08 OUR HERITAGE HOTELS

The building progressed during World War I when sugar Fulgencio Batista, established the Compañía de Fomento prices led to the boom years in the Cuban economy, y Turismo de Cienfuegos, S.A. in partnership with Acisclo a brief time to realise architectural dreams, such as Valle’s widow and heirs to build a motel in the gardens Valle Palace, one of the most significant on the island. and a casino in the palace. The design was commissioned Although its facades and ground floor mostly remind us to the firm run by the architects Eduardo Cañas Abril of Arab-Spanish architecture, the interiors are decorated and Nujim Nepomechie, well known at the time for the with the most varied European styles, primitive Gothic, construction of important projects such as Eugenio Leal’s Imperial, Louis XVI and on the top floor, the least House in the Miramar Neighbourhood, where the mature decorated area, the Venetian style predominates. A reinforced concrete technique was combined with the phrase taken from the Koran was repeated in relief on artistic murals of Mario Carreño and Amelia Peláez. the plastered and painted walls of the main rooms: “Only God is God”. The eclectic fantasy created an The Jagua Hotel, with 144 rooms and two suites over architecture suited to enjoying architecture as history, seven floors, built at a cost of two and a half million emulating film scenes. Materials and craftspeople were dollars, was opened at Christmas 1959 with a banquet brought in from other countries. The materials—marble, for the members of the Cuban Lions Club as part of this alabaster, bronze, ceramics and glass—were imported organisation’s national convention. It is considered a from Spain, Italy and the United States, except for the valuable reminder of rationalism in Cuba. Every room fine Cuban hardwood. There are three minarets and an has private balconies providing a vista point to enjoy the arbour affording excellent views of the bay on its flat lush seascape, its bay, the Escambray mountains and the roof. The three towers, of different styles, also have a city of Cienfuegos. Its architecture contains pure, simple, peculiar symbology: the right tower represents strength, straight-line solutions, since it was designed as an open the one in the middle, which slightly resembles an complex with no barriers, in which its picturesque main Indian mosque, symbolises religion and the left tower oblong facade elegantly inflects in the centre at the love. The perimeter iron railing, classified as Muslim, height of the lift shaft, thus banishing all monotony. It was considered a real work of craftsmanship. Its owner has balconies whose balustrades are a series of bright wasn’t able to enjoy his fabulous palace for long since colours, making it look pleasing to the eye. Del Valle died of a heart attack in 1919 on a fatal day when they informed him of an irreversible downward When the revolution triumphed, the initial idea of trend in sugar prices. His widow and eight children left turning Valle Palace into a casino was ruled out and for the peninsula never to return and the marvellous instead it became the Rolando Escardó School of Plastic house was looked after by his Catalan servant María Arts managed by the famous Cienfuegos sculptor Mateo Covadonga. Torriente.

In the 1950s, open to tourist investments, the residence took another turn. José López Vilaboy, the front man for

30 08 OUR HERITAGE HOTELS

Blue Palace and Chalía Cacicedo House

Palacio Azul Hotel. Calle 37 (Pedro Antonio Aragonés) on the corner with Avenida 12 / Hostal Encanto, Green House. Calle 37 (Pedro Antonio Aragonés) between Avenida 0 and Avenida 2. Punta Gorda Neighbourhood

The villas in the Punta Gorda Neighbourhood adjoining the sea became permanent residences for some affluent families rather than summer homes as they were close to the city, yet far enough removed from the hustle and bustle of daily life in the centre. They transferred their residential models there, now detached houses surrounded by large gardens in a calm setting with privileged natural views. The Blue Palace, built in 1925 for the Menéndez Acebal family by the architect and civil engineer Federico Navarro, is one of these elegant examples. Considerable in size and surrounded by porticos and loggias, it has beautiful shutters and is topped by a mirador with an enamel dome on the flat roof. The Green House is a short distance away. This is another residence characterised by the use of colour, built around 1935 by Chalía Cacicedo. It has large rooms and terraces with sea views and profuse decoration inside and also its own bathing area.

31 CIENFUEGOS 09 ON THE MAP

Cayo Ocampo and the first mapping of the island of Cuba

In 1508, the Governor of Hispaniola, Nicolás de Ovando, map it and repair his ships. Finally they reached Cape San continent, as he needed to present this news to the king ordered the frontiers of the New World to be expanded, Antonio, before heading south. Not long after setting sail, and queen so as not to lose credibility and thus be able to and to that end sent an expedition each to Cuba and they identified Cabo Francés, to the south of the Cortés inlet, continue his voyages. to Borinquén (present-day Puerto Rico). For the first by the 84th meridian west, where the Admiral turned round expedition, he commissioned the Galician navigator in 1494 during his second journey to the New World, when The two ships then continued on to Jagua bay, which they Sebastián de Ocampo, with the mission of producing a full he attempted to verify along the south coast the same thing explored, and where they moored in a small key in the mapping of the coasts of Cuba to determine whether it was that Sebastián de Ocampo was doing: seeing whether Cuba bay, where they rested and replenished wood and water an island, as the indigenous people stated, or continental was an island or a continent. On that occasion, urgency and supplies, and which is still known as Ocampo. The navigator land, as Columbus had claimed, and exactly how long it was. anxiety led him to state unequivocally that it was the Asian would inform the king of Spain that “...this port, which its inhabitants call Jagua, is one of the best The island was mapped using two ships, and safest to be found in the world”. and took eight months, beginning at Maisí and Baracoa, and covering the After following his route around the whole of the north coast: Ocampo headed coast, his expedition reached the Gulf for Moa and the Tánamo bay, and then of Guacanayabo, and later the crew on to Nipe. The Cape of Cuba visited by were delighted to see the mountainous Columbus was identified, along with landscape of the Sierra Maestra and the Bariay, Gibara and Puerto Padre, and not rocky cliffs of Maisí, by which Sebastián long after the Nuevitas bay came into de Ocampo realised that they had sailed view, Cayo Sabinal and the other keys, right the way round the island of Cuba, and the Sabana-Camagüey archipelago, and that Columbus was mistaken. This continuing on to Punta de Hicacos, where paved the way for the conquest and Varadero now stands. After the open colonisation of Cuba, and Cayo Ocampo, Matanzas bay, Ocampo saw Carenas which can today be visited by boat from port or Havana bay, where he stopped to Cienfuegos, is an eye witness to that feat.

32 09 CIENFUEGOS ON THE MAP

Benny Moré and Orquesta Aragón

Moré, the most popular musician that the island has produced, was from the Cienfuegos town of Santa Isabel de las Lajas, and it was from there where this descendant of a Congo tribal king captured in the jungle and brought to Cuba as a slave emerged to triumph on the stages of Havana, Mexico and throughout the Americas, becoming known as the Wildman of Rhythm.

It is impossible to distil into a single short chronicle the musical trajectory of Bartolomé Maximiliano Moré Gutiérrez,the eldest of 18 siblings of a humble Cuban family, who at the age of six built his first instrument from a board and a spool of thread, and who had to leave school at an early age to help his family. The time sones “Que Bueno Baila Usted” and “Vertiente he spent early on in his career with the renowned trio Camagüey”, timeless guaguancós and rumbas such Matamoros, his time in Mexico and his connection to as “Rumberos de Ayer”, the boleros “Dolor y Perdón”, the creator of mambo Dámaso Pérez Prado, with whom “Mi Amor Fugaz” and “No te Atrevas”, as well as he recorded such memorable pieces as Guanabacoa, unforgettable chachachas, guarachas and guajiras, Locas por el Mambo, Viejo Cañengo, El suave, Que made Benny one of the all-time greats of Cuban Cinturita, María Cristina, Pachito Eche and Dolor music. The timeless song by Benny Moré has become a veritable Carabalí, among other songs, and his unforgettable hymn in Cienfuegos: collaboration with the best bands of the era, such Also from Cienfuegos is the legendary Orquesta as the Bebo Valdés band, catapulted him to success, Aragón, a group belonging to the so-called French although his career really took off in 1953 when he charangas and founded in 1939 by the double-bassist When I came to Cienfuegos formed his own big band, made up of legendary Orestes Aragón. The group became one of the most and wished to see that city instrumentalists and with which he would revolutionise popular bands in Cuba in the 1950s. Their repertoire As they call it “the Pearl” the musical panorama of the age. initially consisted of danzones, boleros, guarachas and and now I’ll tell you why. other genres of Cuban music, but with the success of His voice, his arrangements, his charisma and the chachacha, the La Aragón became the principal The chorus of Benny’s song says that “Cienfuegos is the legendary repertoire, featuring mambos such as performer of this genre, taking it to its most refined city that I like the most”. “Bonito y Sabroso” and “Así es la Humanidad”, the level in terms of creativity and instrumentation.

33 09 CIENFUEGOS ON THE MAP

Fall of El Inglesito

From the time of the first war of independence (1868- Brigadier Julio Sanguily in October 1871, where Agramonte, 1878), the lands of Cienfuegos major wartime events and Reeve and another 34 horsemen defeated a Spanish troop legendary battles, such as in 1876 near Yaguaramas, where of 120 men. the brigadier Henry Reeve, known as “El Inglesito” or little Englishman due to his American origin, fell at the age of During a decisive action, Reeve rushed at an enemy 26. Reeve became one of the most charismatic officers artillery battery, raising the morale of the Cuban with the Mambí army, and his unique story forms part of independence army, but receiving a most serious wound the legend of the army that fought to liberate Cuba from in his leg. For his actions, he was promoted to the rank of Spain. Brigadier. Exposed to the harsh conditions of the wetlands and because of the wounds in his legs, the doctors advised When barely a teenager, Reeve took part in his country’s him not to ride again, but Reeve persevered and was able Wear of Succession as a drummer in the Union Army. to walk, though he had to be tied to his saddle in order to When he learned of the uprising in Cuba that had begun ride. in La Demajagua, led by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Reeve volunteered to travel to Cuba as an expeditionary. He He was thus able to continue to lead the famous arrived in Cuba in 1869, on board the Perrit steamer as part Camagüey cavalry corps until eventually falling in combat. of an Expeditionary Force. The expedition was ambushed Following the death of Agramonte in Jimaguayú on 11 by the Spanish army while they were unloading supplies, May 1873, Reeve served under General Máximo Gómez in and Reeve was taken prisoner, along with many others. The the legendary Camagüey Cavalry. Under his command, he Spanish shot them all and left them unburied, assuming took part in the failed invasion from the East to the West they were dead. Reeve had received four bullet wounds, of Cuba. With the invasion at an impasse in the province but had enough strength to crawl away, and was found by of Matanzas in the summer of 1876, the Spanish wiped Cuban pro-independence forces. out the few soldiers in his escort. Unable to ride, Reeve put a bullet in his temple with his revolver so as not to be From that point on, he was known as Enrique, the captured by the enemy. American, and given the title of “El Inglesito” by Major General Ignacio Agramonte. Reeve rose rapidly under his As a trophy of war, his body was brought to Cienfuegos command. In turn, Reeve gave Agramonte his nickname: and put on display in the beautiful Reina cemetery, where “El Mayor”. Under the command of Agramonte, Reeve he is thought to have been buried. took part in a great many actions, including the rescue of

34 09 CIENFUEGOS ON THE MAP

The Battle of Mal Tiempo

It was late 1895 and the third Cuban War of Independence independence. It was also hugely significant politically, as at was under way when the Battle of Mal Tiempo took place, the national level it ratified the decision and indicated a real one of the most important actions carried out by the Mambí possibility of advancing to the West. Locally, it strengthened forces in the invasion toward the west during the war the pro-independence position in the area, and made the against Spanish colonialism. people living in the area feel the effects of the Spanish Army’s policy of harassment even more. The Captain General of the island, Arsenio Martínez Campos, understood that the advance of the Liberating Army from Martínez Campos was staying at La Unión de Cienfuegos the east was imminent, and in a desperate attempt to halt hotel when he heard about the battle, and rode off at the push west he concentrated a large number of troops breakneck speed to try to stop the advance of the Mambí in the Cruces area. In around three hours the Mal Tiempo troops. battle had come to an end, with great success for the Cuban forces. The action was defined by one of the most significant The Mal Tiempo disaster handed the pro-independence machete charges led by the troops of Maceo at the front, Cubans copious spoils of war, consisting of 150 Mauser rifles, General Máximo Gómez in the middle, following by Serafín 60 Remingtons, six boxes of munitions, officers’ and soldiers’ Sánchez and, bringing up the rear, Brigadier Luis de Feria. horses, mules, equipment, medical supplies, and the flag and documentation from the Archive, which enabled them to Mal Tiempo also served to dismantle the myth that the identify the vanquished column. The Liberating Army killed Spanish troops were unbeatable, and to reveal, once around 200 soldiers from the Spanish army in the battle. again, the irrevocable decision made by Cubans to achieve The pro-independence forces, however, reported only four independence for Cuba at any price. The failure of the battle deaths and four wounded. for the Spanish demonstrated the negative influence of conscription, resulting in the lack of a common ideal. The battle marked the end of the first stage of the invasion, leading to a new strategy and tactic by those fighting for

35 09 CIENFUEGOS ON THE MAP

The Cienfuegos lighthouse

Back in 1846, with the amount of commercial traffic going in and The lighthouse was first lit on 19 March 1851. In practice it became out of the port, there was clearly a need to install a lighthouse clear that the space for the tower provided in the initial project at the entrance to the channel into the bay to ensure safe was insufficient to accommodate the lighthouse keepers and access to Cienfuegos port. On 16 July of the same year traders their families, so on 3 June 1861 the Jurisdictional Development addressed the Spanish authorities in the following terms: “Having Board of Cienfuegos requested housing be built, which took until recognised the suitability of placing a beacon at the entrance to 1867 to complete. The light from the lighthouse was used by this bay... and given the impossibility that the Royal Development Mambí expeditions during the war against Spanish colonialism, Board finds itself in due to its many commitments, to provide as they disembarked nearby, one of these was the expedition by funds for it, we are willing to fund the amount by subscription Miguel Betancourt, in the steamer Dauntless, which arrived on for the necessary lamp, and to charge the boats arriving at our 13 October 1896 at the mouth of the San Juan river, and that of consignment the tax amount believed to be fair to subsidise the Fernando Méndez, who disembarked from the steamer Sommers costs of the keeper and maintenance.” Smith at the mouth of the Arimao river on 15 September 1897. During the Spanish-American War in Cuba, one of the first actions The best site for it to be built was studied, and Punta de los by the American fleet was to cut the Western Union submarine Colorados was chosen, on the windward side of the port entrance, telegraphy cable on 11 May 1898, which entered at the same both as the point most out at sea, and for the quality of the land, Punta de los Colorados. The following day, the lighthouse was and located at 22º02.1 latitude north and 80º26.5 longitude west. bombarded by the Mablehead and Winslow ships, led by the The task of carrying out the project was given to the lieutenant commander W.H.H. Southerland, which led to the lighthouse being colonel of engineers Francisco de Albear, who by February had two completely destroyed. projects ready, and eventually deciding on the one that placed the lighthouse keeper’s room inside the tower, thus helping in the At the end of the war, the Americans weighed up the need to lighthouse’s defence against attacks by any possible assailants. replace the destroyed lighthouse, and installed a provisional sixth-order light, hung from a wooden mast, but this proved Work began in August 1848, beginning with building the track José de la Concha, it was decided insufficient, as it did not ensure access to Cienfuegos bay, which leading up to the site, using prisoners and negro slaves to provide for the Cienfuegos lighthouse to be led the American authorities to build a new lighthouse on the the labour. Due to the unhealthy conditions on the site, at the end known as Villanueva, in recognition same spot, with a focal height of 19.65 metres, installing a fourth- of the project eight people were reported to have died during the of the Creole Claudio Martínez order lens system. It was opened in 1901, using a constant level construction works. de Pinillos, Count of Villanueva, petroleum lamp, with regular flashes every 5 seconds and visible Superintendent of the Treasury of from a distance of 15 miles, with a total cost of 25,183.67 pesos. The tower was completed on 5 March 1849. A French lighting Cuba, who distinguished himself by In March 1952 the lighting system was replaced by a lamp using a system using the Fresnel model was installed, and was ready securing completely free trade for incandescent petroleum vapour installation. After the triumph of for use on 1 March 1851. In accordance with the practice of Cuba with the rest of the world, and the Revolution, on 26 June 1969, it was electrified and remodelled, naming lighthouses after captains general or other high- was respected for his financial skills with new housing built in 1970 for the lighthouse keepers. The level representatives of the Crown in the island, and the Maisí and personal integrity. lighthouse now has a visible reach of 38 nautical miles and also lighthouse having been named after the Captain General of Cuba, has a radio beacon.

36 09 CIENFUEGOS ON THE MAP

The nation councils of Cienfuegos

During the period of slavery in the Caribbean, it was but over time councils were formed with several nations customary for the white masters to separate Africans and even with Creole slaves. With the onset of the 20th from the same nations, in order to make communication century, the councils turned into cultural, political and between them harder. However, from the first century of mutual-aid societies; it was through these councils that Spanish colonisation and African slavery in Cuba, “nation Afro-Cubans defended their rights in the first half of the councils” were formed. These councils were organisations 20th century. Despite the fact that in their beginnings of slaves, or former slaves, who would come together they were thought of as a strategy for controlling slaves, according to their ethnic or national origins. These they also represented a weapon of cultural resistance and brotherhoods or societies, which came to be known as at the same time helped bring about the cross-cultural councils, were allowed by the Spanish in Latin America, development of Cuban society. and consisted of a religious board or association. Their origin dates back to Seville in the 14th century, and since In the town of Palmira, located 12 kilometres north of then these councils were used by the authorities, not only Cienfuegos, several councils which have been preserved in to promote the Catholic religion, but also to control the good condition can be visited, such as El Cristo, San Roque, diverse ethnic and social groups in the community. The San Antonio, Santa Teresa and Santa Bárbara, and where a first council for which there are records in Cuba was the As these African organisations played their instruments range of religious objects, images and musical instruments Changó council, which was formed in 1568. and danced their traditional dances, because of the made by slaves are kept. Cienfuegos is home to the complaints by neighbours of the “unpleasant noises” Cabildo de Santa Bárbara, which contains the batá drums Membership of these nation councils was typically diverse coming from the drums, most councils were held in the of María del Carmen Soler, a descendant of slaves, and who in social and economic terms. The unifying factor was outskirts of town, which meant they were less supervised is amalgamated with the orisha Shango. Also preserved is that they had all been slaves at some point, which led and therefore enjoyed greater autonomy. As the 19th the staff of power of Basilia Acea, daughter of Elegua and them to fight for the emancipation of other slaves. The century progressed, and due to constant slave revolts, founder of this council, and one of the oldest images in councils also raised money for times of need (hunger, regulations became increasingly strict, until the councils existence of the orisha Yewa. sickness, death). It also gave slaves the chance to consult were completely banned in 1888. their own deities and ancestors, and uphold their African idiosyncrasy in a new setting – their music, dance, song At first, the nation councils were for slaves who had and prayers, to the beat of their drums. been born in Africa and had the same African origin,

37 TRADITIONS & LEGENDS 10 OF CIENFUEGOS

To understand the soul of a people, it is as necessary to OUR research the facts and events, institutions and monuments as it is to study their myths, legends, traditions, fables, popular songs, and so on. In these lies the infancy of TRADITIONS a people, their primitive poetry, the source of their sensibility, the origin of their beliefs and the seed of their & LEGENDS future aspirations. This service contains legends and traditions of Cienfuegos collected and published in 1919 by the researchers Pedro Modesto and Adrián del Valle. They belong to three separate eras. The first is that of the Ciboney people of Jagua in the time before Columbus. Some of them are based on Indian mythology, are highly original, not lacking in poetry and, like all mythologies, represent a major intellectual effort by primitive men in their attempt to explain the mystery of life, something not yet with all our great science and profound philosophy.

The second era is that of the discovery and colonisation of Cuba, and the third relates to the period around the founding and early years of Fernandina de Jagua, which went on to become the modern, progressive city of Cienfuegos.

38 10 TRADITIONS & LEGENDS OF CIENFUEGOS

Several years had passed from when Joseph Díaz had “Your wife, perhaps.” settled in Jagua. The sun had tanned and baked his face, “It should be of no concern what she is to me. It is enough AZURINA and at the same time whitened his hair, but he was always for you to know that I have an interest in her, and above in contact with mother nature, a stranger to the anxieties, (From the book: all, for the being that she carries in her belly. Care for her hardships and troubles that civilisation brings, enjoying “Traditions and Legends of well, as she has lost all reason, and when she gives birth, strength, good health and joy, always willing to help the Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del take the child under your protection and act as his father.” Ciboney people with his efforts and advice, and earning the Valle, 1919.) love and respect of the locals. Díaz gave his promise, and, sure that he would keep his word, the pirate left, leaving in the shack along with the We have insinuated that Díaz had dealings with the pirates young woman a good number of chests and lockers, which who frequented that coastline, and we can add that they he made his sailors bring, and which contained beautiful were not sinful dealings, as Díaz was not involved in their gowns, rich jewels, fragrant resins and perfumed roots, misdeeds, limiting his dealings to agreements that he that would appeal to the most coquettish and capricious could not avoid, under the threat of turning them into woman. However, not of it seemed to interest Estrella powerful enemies. (for that was her name), who remained still, mute, One day, he received a visit to his modest shack by a unresponsive to questions and requests, her gaze distant, famous pirate, whose name the tradition does not record. as though lost in a void. Only occasionally would her eyes He was with a beautiful woman, with a sickly appearance, take on a pained expression, and her colourless lips would and whose shape suggested that it would not be long move, pronouncing odd words that had no connection and before she became a mother. made no sense. Fleeting hallucinations would leave her prostrate, her entire body lightly trembling. “José Díaz,” said the pirate, “you are a good and honourable man, in whom a scoundrel such as myself can Who was this woman? What terrible mystery did her life trust. I have come to ask a favour of you, for which I will hide? There was no way of knowing. There was nothing give you whatever you ask.” that she could say, and nothing that the pirate had revealed. She could have been a prisoner, violently held “I put no price on my favours,” he simply replied. captive by the pirate, driven to madness following a great “But I know how to pay for them, so I will not have to be tragedy. Díaz had hoped to learn the truth from the mouth grateful for them. I am going to leave this woman in your of the young woman herself, on whom he bestowed the home and in your care.” most attentive care and attention. Unfortunately, although her health did improve somewhat, her mind did not “Your daughter?” asked Díaz. recover, and when a few months later she gave birth, she did not survive, taking the mystery of her life with her to “No.” the grave. The sweet being who she left in the world was a beautiful girl, who Díaz baptised with the name of Azurina.

39 10 TRADITIONS & LEGENDS OF CIENFUEGOS

Of the seven beautiful dancers and singers that the taking her fruit, feathers, shells, sheets of gold and other trinkets of the kind that would cacique had in his court, six perished in the shipwreck of flatter feminine vanity; and to all of it she smiled and from all of them she accepted AYCAYIA the dugout canoe; the one who escaped death (either due their gifts, without any one of them able to boast of being favoured above any of the to taking more time over her headdress, or because she others. (From the book: had been previously warned by the behique who felt a “Traditions and Legends of The poor Indian women of Jagua felt abandoned, the wives by their husbands, the special predilection for her) was called Aycayia and of the Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del damsels by their beaus, who only had eyes and ears for the incomparable Aycayia. They seven was the most beautiful, the most graceful dancer Valle, 1919.) turned to the cacique, who turned the matter over to the head behique, who in vain and the singer with the sweetest and most melodious tried to make the flock return to the fold. The banished beauty, however, was equal to voice. It is no surprise, then, that she alone continued to all the threats and interests. disturb the peace of the flock, making men abandon their work, taking them away from fulfilling their duties as The behique then resorted to the supreme infallible method: for a third time, he warriors and leading to discord in their homes. consulted the Cemí of the goddess Jagua, who gave him a few small black seeds, together with the following instructions: Once again, the cacique, the elders and the behiques convened, and for a second time turned to the almighty “These seeds are an amulet against being forgotten and infidelity. Give them to the Cemí, who spoke to them as follows: women, telling them to sow them in their gardens. When they bloom, their worries and distress will cease, and they will once again enjoy the attentions of their fiancés and “Aycayia is the embodiment of sin, the sin of beauty, art husbands.” and love. She provides men with pleasure, but she makes them her slaves, robbing them of their free will. And her The seeds, planted with solicitous care by the women, led to the tree known today as diabolical strength lies in the fact that, while satisfying the Majagua or Demajagua, meaning the Mother Jagua, the leaves, flowers and wood of all, she gives herself to no one. Virgin she remains, and which have since then been considered amulets or prevention against marital infidelity. virgin she will die. If you wish to live in peace, tear her from your bosom.” The trees grew, and as their first flowers bloomed, a violent hurricane came, which swept the barbacoa or upper house where Aycayia and her elderly companion lived into The advice of the Cemí was followed. Aycayia, condemned the sea. The fury of the waves then dragged the two women into the water. The young to live in isolation in the company of an old woman called woman was transformed into a water nymph or siren, and the old woman into a turtle, Guanayoa, was taken to a solitary place known today thus brining to an end the ill-fated and overwhelming power that the beautiful, peerless as Punta Majagua. Unfortunately, the situation did not Aycayia had over the Ciboney men of Jagua. improve for her. Such was the power of the beautiful dancer over men, that every day the Ciboney men would Tradition gives us more than one interpretation of the role played by Aycayia in the sea. go to Punta Majagua, leaving their work and their homes, Some see her as a solitary water nymph, roaming Jagua Bay or out at sea, blowing into with the sole purpose of seeing Aycayia perform her a huge pearly shell from a sea snail of the Antilles seas, the coarse sound from which is marvellous dances, in which she displayed prodigious skill mistaken for the sound made by Caorao, the storm god. Others, meanwhile, believe that and dexterity, and to hear her sweet, caressing voice. she rides on Guanayoa, transformed into a huge, revolting turtle, but also blowing into the sea snail shell, condemned for eternity to roam the rough seas, purging the sin of As was only natural, they all competed in giving her gifts, having been a beauty, a seductress and a virgin on land.

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The caiman is an animal that the conquistadores made one, and when it opened its mouth, they would jam the genuinely American, but not for its repulsive features nor stick in vertically. They would then head straight for shore, THE CAIMAN for its far from recommendable feats does it honour the pulling on the rope, which they would tie around a tree and great and magnificent continent discovered by Columbus. haul in until the crocodile was out of the water, at which (From the book: point they would beat it to death. On other occasions they “Traditions and Legends of According to the zoological classification, the caiman is a would drive the two-ended stick through the body of a Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del reptile in the saurian or lizard group, and appears in the hutia (a type of rodent), which they would then leave on Valle, 1919.) sub-class of hydrosaurs, order of Crocodilia, sub-order of the shore. The crocodile would come out of the water to procelids, family of Alligatoridae. take the animal in its mouth, but would end up with its If not in real life, readers will have seen a caiman at least jaws jammed open by the stick, leaving it at the mercy of in drawings or paintings, so we feel there is no need for a the Indians, who would attack it and kill it. description here. If the reader is from Cienfuegos and feels At the time of the conquest of Cuba by Diego Velásquez, a burning curiosity, that can be easily satisfied by taking a in 1511, the Spaniards only saw these reptiles in the Cauto stroll around the nearby Zapata swamp, home to so many river and its tributaries. No records have survived from of our crocodiles (described incorrectly as caimans), those the time of the conquest regarding the existence of these wide-mouthed carnivores with the long tail and short legs, animals in other places, but they were thought to be and as heavy on land as they are light and swift in the abundant in number in Jagua, which is renowned for its water. caimans.

The caiman is widespread throughout America, except In the early years after Fernandina de Jagua was founded, in the cold regions. Columbus saw one for the first time from 1819 until well into the 1830s, landowners and in the Chagres river, in 1502. Chroniclers of the conquest neighbours living next to the areas where the town was describe it accurately. Oviedo called them a lizard or expanding, and particularly those living in the south east, dragon, and considers them to be very different to the which consisted more or less of the area occupied today crocodile. Herrera thought that they had no tongue and by Calle de San Carlos to the north and Calle de Vives to made a distinction between green and brown specimens, the west, were the victims of the actions of a caiman that claiming the former to be larger and fiercer. He explains had its nest lair in the stream that turned into a ditch and that they lay their eggs on the beach and cover them over which is now Calle de Dorticós. with sand, which combined with the heat of the sun acts as an incubator for their eggs. The Indians would go in search With agonising regularity, the poor neighbours would see of these eggs, which they relished. To hunt crocodiles, they their birds, cattle, pigs and horses disappear. At first they used a stick sharpened to a point at the ends, tied with a thought it was people up to no good, moving in the dark at thick rope in the middle. They would swim out looking for night to take what wasn’t theirs. They observed, however,

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that the birds or livestock that slept fenced off or under to be shot at point blank, let out a perfectly human cry: a roof were not disappearing, and they deduced that the THE CAIMAN thief wasn’t necessarily a man, who would have found it “Don’t shoot, Monsieur, I’m your friend!” easy enough to take animals that were fenced in. (From the book: Terrorised by the unexpected, diabolical, supernatural notion “Traditions and Legends of Realising that there was a huge beast in the area, they of a talking caiman, the Frenchman’s colleagues fled in a Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del deduced that this could be the only perpetrator of these stampede, each one scrambling to get away as fast as they Valle, 1919.) nocturnal goings on to satiate its voracious appetite. could, not stopping until reaching their homes and ensuring They took certain precautions, but with no real outcome. the door was locked tight. The only effective preventive method was to fence in the Bonón, who did not scare easily, and was not given to believe animals, but not everyone in the area was in a position in diabolical arts, must have realised that the crocodile was to do so, quite apart from the trouble and loss of time not real, and that under its tough skin had to be hiding that it involved. Having come together to discuss matters someone of flesh and blood, someone known to him, such of such vital importance, they agreed that the quickest that, lowering his weapon, he simply replied: and simplest way was to discover the criminal and give it what for. So one night, the neighbours most affected by “I know who you are, caiman...”. the issue, led by Monsieur Bonón, set out to lie in wait, The strange event must have intrigued the hardworking, and it wasn’t before long that they heard the sound of peaceful colonists for quite some time, without them ever twigs being broken, clumsy steps of someone approaching, really knowing if it was indeed a real talking caiman that and from among the shadows they thought they saw the spoke like a man, or a local who passed himself off as one, to huge jaws of the beast and heard its teeth gnashing as it take what did not belong to him without being caught. crunched the bones of its latest victim. Given the time passed, we are in no position to clarify the As soon as he saw it, Monsieur Bonón, who was the only matter. However, what we can state is that, thanks to one armed with an old flintlock rifle, summoning up all his the efforts of Luis Juan Lorenzo and the fine work of José courage and to the admiration of his neighbours, readied Capote, the caiman did not bother the locals again. Granted, himself to carry out the heroic act that would free the every now and then, before the neighbourhood began to nascent colony of such a troublesome and dangerous expand, the occasional bird or animal would go missing, but enemy. He raised his weapon, aimed without trembling, such acts, so gossipers claimed, were carried out by caimans cocked the gun and readied himself to pull the trigger, but who were passing by, looking to take what did not belong to – a miracle! At the sound of the gun cocking, the animal them. turned as fast as it could, and realising that it was about

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There once lived a beautiful Indian woman called Iasiga. her pass with a tray of pond-apples, a sure sign that she was THE CURSED She was the legitimate wife of a hardworking Ciboney man going to visit her ancestors. This did not put Maitio at ease. called Maitio. The two lived in joyous peace and harmony, He headed to the shore and set off in his canoe, heading only occasionally perturbed by the light clouds that would for where Iasiga’s family were buried. From afar he saw, on INDIAN sometimes cast a shadow over their domestic bliss. While the beach, a couple locked in the eternal embrace. His heart he would leave home to go out and hunt and fish, she would skipped a beat. He was afraid that his suspicion had become (From the book: prepare the food, look after the crops, mend nets and traps, reality. He doubled his efforts with his paddle and managed “Traditions and Legends of and do all that a dutiful wife should do. to reach shore without being seen. He moved forward with Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del great caution, before leaping out in front of the surprised Valle, 1919.) Iasiga was a woman with a fiery, passionate temperament. lovers, who were none other than Iasiga and Gaguiano. She loved her husband, but not so much that she had eyes only for him. And so it was that, the first time she saw Maitio watched as his rival, a coward, ran away, and from Gaguiano, a handsome Ciboney man who was keen on his wife’s throat their rose a cry of anguish. His face twisted plucking the fruit from the gardens of others, she felt such with pain, Maitio bent down to Iasiga and, his voice hoarse, a burning passion that, forgetting about naive Maitio, she said: “May you be cursed a thousand times, treacherous gave herself to him, enjoying with abandon the pleasures of woman. May Mabuya punish your infidelity, condemning you forbidden love. to wander coastlines for eternity, without any hope of rest or compassion.” Many afternoons, Maitio would come home to notice his wife was not at home, who upon her return would apologise, At that moment, the unfaithful Isiaga was transformed into saying that she had gone to offer pond-apples to her a sea monster, who on certain afternoons appears, mute, deceased ancestors, when the truth was that she was sorrowful and supplicant, to solitary fishermen, who in their returning from her illicit escapades. rowboat, canoe or craft make their living from the sea.

Everything must come to an end in this world, and this was That, at least, is how the legend goes. Today there are still true of Maitio’s trust. On the way home one afternoon, cruel those who believe the origin of the tradition is true, and suspicion gnawed at his innocent soul. Upon finding the those who suppose it is the manatee that can be seen in the home empty, he did not simply wait patiently. He asked his waters of the Jucaral, or an enormous sea turtle or hawksbill neighbours about Iasiga, who told him that they had seen that finds its way into Jagua bay.

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Jagua Castle off pirate ships. But they didn’t consider that pirates also had small boats that could enter the huge bay using one of the mouths of Arimao, a river that has two branches, THE BLUE The seas of the Antilles were infested with pirates, who one flowing into the sea and the other, known as the Derramadero de las Auras, feeding showed a particular predilection for the coasts of Cuba. into Guanaroca Lagoon, which is linked to the bay by an estuary. And so, despite the Not content with attacking tall ships and boats dealing fortress and its cannons, the daring pirates continued to get up to their old tricks in the LADY in coastal trade, they would try their luck at raiding the bay without running any major risks. To stop them from getting in, a palisade had to be island’s mainland to sack the haciendas and villages, their built – traces of which can still be seen today, covering the Derramadero de las Auras. This (From the book: daring even leading them, in the early colonial period, to finally freed the bay from regular and inconvenient pirate visits. “Traditions and Legends of raiding Havana, Santiago de Cuba and other large towns. In its time, the castle was said to be a good one, and was third in importance in Cuba after Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del The era and the defencelessness of the island contributed Castillo del Morro in Havana and the castle in Santiago de Cuba. Today, the three castles Valle, 1919.) to these outrages. The job of a sea bandit paid well, and are simply historical monuments. the dangers were not so bad as to act as a deterrent. Spain did not have enough ships to actively go after pirates, who Talking of history, before getting into the legend, it is worth noting that the first in turn had good dens on a range of islands and keys. Commander of Jagua Castle was Juan Castillo Cabeza de Vaca. It isn’t known if he was a descendant of the famous explorer and conqueror Cabeza de Vaca, but it is known that The Jagua port was a regular haunt for Cayman pirates. his wife, Leonor de Cárdenas, was buried in the castle chapel, as was, ten years later, the The size of the bay, at 56 square miles, and its particular first chaplain of the castle, the presbyter Martín Olivera. As well as a soldier, Castilla was nature, made it a favoured spot for visits, which were a businessman with impressive initiative. He was instrumental in opening the first sugar anything but pleasant for those living there. Pirates could factory in Jagua, which he set up on land of the Caunao hacienda, of which he was joint find their way into the bay undetected and remain hidden owner, located a league away from the bay. He named the factory “Nuestra Señora de in the countless inlets for as long as they wished. With la Candelaria” (Our Lady of Candelaria). Over the years it was eventually inherited by strength in numbers and in weaponry, they would embark Antonia Guerrero. She was the wife of Agustín Santa Cruz, who donated the lands on on raids in the nearby areas, robbing and sacking shacks which the city of Cienfuegos now stands. and estates, and taking settlers hostage when they fell into their hands, and would not let them go without a And, taking history, greedy and vexatious as it is, by the hand, let us return to the realm sometimes major rescue mission. of legend, full of deceptive illusions, but always pleasing and entertaining.

To prevent these dangerous raids, in 1682 there were Although built relatively recently, Jagua Castle has its own stories and legends, which intentions to fortify Jagua port, but this did not happen have their origin in the late-night gatherings of old neighbours from the area, and which until 1742, when “Castillo de Nuestra Señora de los were faithfully passed down from one generation to the next. According to one of these Ángeles” or Castle of Our Lady of Angels was built on the traditions, in the years shortly after Jagua Castle was built, in the small hours of the night, western part of the entrance to the bay. It is known today when the garrison was resting and the sentinels were dozing, unable to stay awake; when simply as “Castillo de Jagua”. Its construction was overseen all was quiet in the neighbouring house of sailors and fishermen; when the deepest calm by the military engineer José Tantete, and work did not and solitude reined, only disturbed by the monotone rhythm of the waves, and moon finish until 1745. The castle was equipped with ten cannons on high shone down splendidly, wrapping the smooth surface of the sea and the abrupt of varying calibres, as this was deemed sufficient to fend contours of the land in its soft glow, when a large bird from unknown climes with white

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plumage flew into sight, heading for the castle tracing slightest noise could be heard on land. The atmosphere was one of calm and seclusion. To large spirals in the air and cawing sharply. As though while away the monotony, the fearless sub-lieutenant strolled and thought about his wife, answering a call from the mysterious bird, from the castle away in a distant land. THE BLUE chapel there came forth, or rather, coming out of and Suddenly he heard a piercing cawing noise and the beating of wings. At that precise through the walls, there appeared a phantom or shadow moment, the castle’s clock struck the first chime indicating 12 o’clock. The sub-lieutenant of a woman, tall, elegant, dressed in blue brocade and lifted his head and saw the strange bird with white plumage flying in large circles above LADY adorned with gemstones, pearls and emeralds, and covered the castle. And from the walls of the chapel, he saw the mysterious apparition that the from head to toe in a subtle, transparent veil that floated (From the book: soldiers had named the Blue Lady, due to the colour of her dress, move toward him. in the air. And having passed through the castle walls “Traditions and Legends of and ramparts of the castle, she suddenly disappeared, The sub-lieutenant felt his heart skip a beat, but using his iron will he was able to calm his Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del vanishing into thin air. nerves, and strode out to meet the ghost. Valle, 1919.) This ghoulish vision happened again over several nights, What happened between the Blue Lady and the sub-lieutenant? We have never found out. much to the understandable terror of the soldiers garrisoned at the castle, all hardened veterans who had The most crucial part of the legend remains a mystery. What we can say, to satisfy the fought on many different occasions and who could in no reader’s natural curiosity, is that the morning after that fateful night, the soldiers found way be described as cowards; however, these men dared their sub-lieutenant on the ground, unconscious, and next to him, a skull, a fine blue cloak not oppose the mysterious apparition, and out of fear and his sword, broken in two. they were reluctant to keep watch at night as they were Don Gonzalo, which was the young soldier’s name, soon came round, but had lost his supposed to. mind, and had to be locked away in an asylum. In his madness, he could always see a In the castle there was a young sub-lieutenant, who had ghost, which he would attack in vain, as at the first attempt it would vanish into thin air, recently arrived, arrogant and very sure that he did not only to reappear shortly after. believe in ghosts or apparitions from beyond the grave, With regard to the identity of the supposed or real ghost of the Blue Lady, the legend which he dismissed as feverish or wild imaginings. The guards a prudent silence. sub-lieutenant laughed heartily at the soldiers’ fears and to prove to them how unfounded they were, he arranged We don’t know if the tradition has its origin in the punishment of a lady who lived as a to stand in for the sentinel one night. The soldiers retired recluse between those walls, with tropical fantasy adding splashes of supernatural colour to their dorms, leaving the young sub-lieutenant strolling, to her memory, or if she is the poetic creation of a story embellished over the years, calm and collected, on the castle’s upper walkway, with no together with the tales told at night around the fire or on the beach. weapon other than his sword. And it is still a commonly held superstition that the Blue Lady makes her apparitions, It was a beautiful night. The stars shone in the firmament, walking undaunted on the ramparts of what is today an abandoned and almost paler than usual due to the glow of the moon. The calm sea demolished fortress. In the first rays of dawn, she rises into the air and, with a plaintive sweetly whispered the eternal song of its waves. Not the cry, disappears into the Caletón woodland.

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Further north of the shack where tradition has it the Such was Mari-Lope, the sweet and beautiful damsel. MARILOPE family of Joseph Díaz lived, in the area of Revienta Cordeles, there stands a cement kiosk, built by the It goes without saying that all the young Ciboney men admired and pursued her, and (From the book: benevolent and charitable lady from Cienfuegos who there was always one of them to be found around her shack, which stood next the land “Traditions and Legends of loves her birthplace, Ms Teresa Rabassa, wife of the where the Yacht Club is now being built. She, chaste and pure, devoted to her flowers Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del renowned businessman and banker Mr José Ferrer. and her winged creatures, distributed the treasures of her love between her parents and Valle, 1919.) God. The kiosk is a pious reminder. It indicates the exact place where the sacrifice of Mari-Lope took place. As in the case of Azurina, it came about that a freeboot ship sailed into Jagua bay, looking for repairs. It was captained by Jean the Fearless, a ferocious pirate with an Who was Mari-Lope, you say? evil heart and worse instincts, still a young and arrogant figure. His tanned face was disfigured by the hardness of his gaze and the huge scar across his left cheek. Upon Imagine, dear reader, a sweet and beautiful mixed-race seeing Mari-Lope, he developed a burning passion for her, and felt the desire to possess girl, half Spanish and half Indian, who had inherited the her, but however many times he approached to talk to her of love, the same number of Caucasian features of her father, and from her mother, times was he politely turned down. Tenacious and stubborn, the pirate did not admit her golden skin tone, the blackness of her hair and eyes, defeat, telling her that, if not through charm then through force would he secure what her naïve gaze and simple naturalness. She was lively and he wanted. joyful, a lover of flowers and passionate about singing. With the same affection that she applied to growing One afternoon he saw her walking along the empty beach. Cautiously, he approached. wild flowers, she cared for the doves and birds she had lovingly tamed. Nobody sang religious areíto songs with “Well, Mari-Lope,” he said, “do you persist in spurning my love?” more devotion than her, nor the songs of war with greater passion, nor the stories of love between the Ciboney “I have promised not to be of any man; I belong to God.” people and pirates with more sweetness. She smiled at everyone with naïve purity, looked down on no one, Jean was a believer, in his own way, but at that moment he felt the sting of jealousy whatever their status in life, but also showed no special over the Supreme Being, who was fighting him for the woman he adored. predilection for anyone other than her parents. “Mari,” he argued, “the love of God cannot prevent you from belonging to me.” Educated by a deeply pious father, who had given her a healthy mystical love for the divine. Her enlightened spirit “It’s no use, don’t insist. I do not love you. I can be your friend, not your lover.” was reflected in the heavenly bodies; her soul was always floating among the clouds and reflecting glory, and her “I am rich and brave, lord of these seas, which my ship ploughs through, fearing no one. burning desire was to go to the heavenly paradise offered I possess immense treasures and I am free to seize whatever riches are within my grasp. by Christ and his followers. Come with me; you will be my queen and lady, my mariners your vassals; for you I shall conquer an isle, you shall have rich gowns of silk and brocade, the costliest jewels,

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slaves always ready to serve you and satisfy your tiniest now stands made from an ancient mesquite tree trunk, MARILOPE whim. with beautiful sulphur-yellow flowers around the base.

(From the book: Mari-Lope shook her head and replied only the following: The popular fantasy, ever poetic and creative, depicts “Traditions and Legends of Mari in a long yellow tunic, with a crude wooden cross on Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del “Keep the riches you offer me for yourself: I do not need her chest, and with a long, floating veil, wearing a crown Valle, 1919.) them. I cannot be yours, because I am of God.” of mesquite flowers and carrying a basket filled with the flowers that bear her name: Mari-Lope. Frantic with passion and exacerbated by her refusal, Jean approached Mari and tried to hug her. With Thus ends the tradition. Dear reader, full of curiosity and superhuman effort, she managed to wrestle free from his lover of the glories of Cienfuegos, if you ever feel that life Herculean arms around her, and ran from him. Close to is weighing you down and your spirit begins to flag, head home, and when she felt that her salvation was secure, for the salty shores of Tureira and fix your gaze on the a few of Jean’s sailors came out to meet her, and with modest Mari-Lope flower. The legend of its origin lies with considerable forced managed to stop her. When the the pure and innocent damsel who bore its name. pirate arrived, and once again had her in his arms, from the earth there miraculously sprang forth, between If the path of duty becomes thorny, if the barbs of the damsel and her pursuer, a prickly pear cactus with life break your heart, if your embittered soul moans sharp, penetrating thorns. Jean, beside himself, pulled over life’s gall, if the present is dark and the future his pistol out from his belt and fired, wounding Mari in terrifies you, remember with love that a weak damsel the forehead; she fell to the ground, at the same time gave you an example of heroism and knew how to die, as a white-winged dove flew up through the sky and without conceding to the brute force that pursued her; disappeared into a cloud. The flash of a lightning bolt acknowledge and gently kiss the modest flower that our dazzled the pirates, who upon recovering saw the body ancestors named Mari-Lope in memory of the heroine of Jean aflame and the cactus that had miraculously who offered up love and life to God. appeared. In the place where this happened, a rustic cross

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With the disappearance of the disturbing Aycayia, peace, The head cacique of one of the Lucayan islands, Ornocoy, an old fox well versed in THE hard work and good conduct once again reigned over the the art of war, pillage and plunder, wanting to increase his booty and the number of people of Jagua. The fields provided crops, the hills their women captured, prepared a pirate expedition to Jagua port, whose inhabitants had the birds, and the sea its fish. And there was no terror felt over reputation of being lazy and of preferring the pleasures of song and dance to the hard BATTLE the raids by enemy tribes, as the people of Jagua were reality of war. Ornocoy gathered together his men, heavily armed with bows, arrows, ready to defend their beloved homeland, with arrows and spears and clubs, and setting off in 20 long, fast dugout canoes, they headed for Jagua. clubs, whether up in the hills, down the valleys or out on Navigation in those waters is a hard, arduous task, as the rough sea toys with fragile OF THE the water. boats, but the Lucayans were as skilled on the water as they were in war, and, fighting the elements, they made it to the beaches of Jagua. With the canoes in double file, they This radical change made the cacique, the behiques and headed into the port, brandished their weapons and sounded their horns, before uttering CANOES the elders happy, seeing in the benefits bestowed on their deafening war cries. them the protective hand of the Cemí. And in turn, the (From the book: hardworking Indians continued to water the Majagua, Tough old Ornocoy was in one of the first canoes, on his feet, his body painted black and “Traditions and Legends of the tree that protected conjugal fidelity. However, the red, feathers in his hair, his eyes sparkling. Slung across his shoulder, his quiver was full of Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del Ciboney people of Jagua did not give up all their festivals arrows, his bow hanging from his waist, a knotty wooden club in his right hand. Calm and Valle, 1919.) and entertainments. They regularly held their batos or ball serene, he directs his people, sure of victory. games in the batey or plaza of the settlement. Two teams would launch a ball made from resin into the air, striking Among the Ciboney, the alarm was raised and panic and fear gripped their peaceful it at one another with their hands or legs. They would also homes faced with the unexpected appearance of the fierce Lucayans. The Indian mothers sometimes hold areítos to celebrate noteworthy events, ran to their huts and, picking up their young children, hid in the foothills, whereas the men though they tried not to abuse celebrations of this kind, went from one place to another without being able to make any decisions. The ancient as they could have an enervating effect. In contrast, they cacique, seeing that there was no time to lose, called for his brave Ornoya. held war simulation exercises more frequently, under the direction of the cacique, in which the two rival sides would “Ornocoy and his people are coming, and they mean war,” he told him, “to steal our goods attack one another with gusto, and sometimes the taunts and our women, after killing us. Our salvation is in your hands; there are my warriors, lead would go too far and the conflict would become real, them to victory or to death.” To which Ornoya replied: turning into an actual battle field. In these simulations, one individual to stand out was the brave Ornoya, who had “By the goddess of Jagua, I swear to you that, I either send the Lucayan chief to the the chance on more than one occasion to put his valour bottom of the sea, or I will perish in the attempt.” and mettle to the test in fierce clashes with enemy Indians, gaining a well-earned reputation as a skilful, invincible He ran straight to the beach, where the warriors were waiting for him, armed but unsure warrior. Any time that their homeland was threatened by what to do; they dragged the canoes to the sea, jumped in, sounded their shell horns, an attack, the cacique would make Ornoya the leader of brandished their spears and clubs, and let out a defiant war cry as they advancing on the the warriors entrusted with repelling the aggressors. enemy.

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Ornoya too led and encouraged his men. He cut a proud canoe, his club held high, which he brought down upon the THE figure, with bronzed skin, his head adorned with white and head of the fierce cacique Ornocoy, who staggered and fell, blue feathers, his right arm clutching a solid club. his skull broken into a hundred pieces.

BATTLE The clash was horrific. The canoes came together, and The death of the chief made the Lucayans flee, whereas the Lucayans and Ciboney went at one another with spears Ciboney, emboldened by the example of Ornoya, doubled and clubs. their efforts until securing a complete victory. The enemy OF THE tried to make away in their canoes that had not been The wounded and dead fell to the bottom of the boats or destroyed or sunk, but they were chased down and caught. into the sea, canoes were turned over and their occupants There were more than two hundred prisoners, with six CANOES continued fighting furiously in the water. The combat caciques among them. Ornoya gave the order to head back was fierce and uncertain for a long time. The invading to the beach, where women, children and elders alike had (From the book: cacique urged on his men, and set an example of bravery anxiously witnessed the combat and were now overjoyed “Traditions and Legends of brandishing his huge club, which with every swing as they awaited the victors, the saviours of Jagua. Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del destroyed an enemy’s skull. Ornoya was a match for him Valle, 1919.) in bravery and fierceness, and had youth in his favour. The waiting crowd’s impatience led to jostle, gesticulating Annoyed that the battle was still ongoing, and wishing to and shouting as they waited. The canoes of their warriors bring it to a swift end, he decided to go in search of the approached, in double file, towing the vanquished canoes dreaded cacique. He manoeuvred his canoe and brought it behind them. There was the Herculean figure of Ornoya, alongside the Lucayan chief’s craft, squared up to him and who, his arms crossed and the light feathers blowing in his challenged him to fight. They went at one another fiercely hair, joined in the rejoicing of his warriors and smiled at with their clubs. With one quick movement, Ornoya dodged the crowd’s boundless demonstrations of joy. a blow from the old warrior and leapt onto the enemy’s

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The early years were peaceful for “Fernandina de Jagua”, royal road, with the formal recommendation that he continue walking with all due haste the colony founded in 1819 by Luis De Clouet and for which until beyond the jurisdictional limit. In the busy beehive of industry founded by Don Luis, THE OLD it would be some time before it would come to be known there was no room for slackers. as Cienfuegos, in honour of the illustrious son of Gijón, the One day, it was noticed that a stranger was among them, which caused no little Lieutenant General of Artillery, José Cienfuegos y Jovellanos, consternation among the peaceful colony. It was a woman of advanced years, with a LADY Captain General of the Island, nephew of the distinguished suspicious appearance and, according to gossips, a touch of the witch about her. Tall, writer and legitimate glory of Hispanic literature, Gaspar somewhat stooped, with small, bright eyes, a nose that curved down to converse with the Melchor de Jovellanos. OF THE chin, her mouth toothless, her skin wrinkled and earthy. She said she was called Belén, and ...The developing settlement of Fernandina de Jagua, from then on was known by all as Señá or Ña Belén. She set up home in the neighbourhood despite the pleasant appearance of its surroundings, and of las Calabazas or Pumpkins, which is why she was also known as “the Old Lady of the PUMPKINS the hardworking attitude and peaceful harmony of its Pumpkins”. inhabitants, was still a modest hamlet of huts and shacks The presence of Ña Belén was a concern for some days, and gave the gossips of the town made from “creole” guamo, all simple and newly built. There (From the book: much to discuss, and she was even a topic of conversation among the wiser folk. Nobody were very few houses made from wood, including those “Traditions and Legends of knew where she came from. Whereas some claimed that she was a poor wretch who, with roofs made of wooden tiles or groundnut leaves, and Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del looking to improve her lot, had come from the settlement of Yaguaramas, riding on an very few with mud tiles. The hamlet-like appearance of the Valle, 1919.) ox, which was all that she possessed, others, convinced that she was a witch, stated very settlement was also accentuated by the close friendships formally that she had arrived one Saturday night on a long and filthy broom. between the first settlers, regardless of where they were from, be they French, Spanish or natives of the island. The truth is that Ña Belén was no trouble to anyone, and there was no reason to expel her They all knew one another and were on familiar terms, and from the village, to the displeasure of those who, thinking her a real witch, would have liked provided one another with mutual help. They led a cordial to be rid of her rather unpleasant appearance. She earned a living as a washerwoman and a life, free of disputes, quarrels and rivalries, although it is to healer, and as such earned a reputation, to the extent that she was a fierce rival to the first be supposed that they were not free of that more or less doctors in the colony, Domingo Mongenié, José Vallejo and the chemist Félix Lanier. inoffensive sin of gossip, which is unavoidable when half a As a result of a few initial successes, due more to chance than to her knowledge, Ña Belén dozen families come together, and which by no small means earned herself a reputation as a healer, and it was generally believed that she could heal helps make their existence more entertaining. any sickness, no matter how serious. Those were the glory days for Ña Belén, but, alas, her Just as they all knew one another, the presence of someone days of misfortune did not take long to arrive. As with so many others, fortune, fickle as it from elsewhere was noticed and commented on, and the is, turned its back on her. famous Pamuá, the popular local fellow, let Don Luis know It so happened that an increase in fevers occurred as the colder weather set in, and a fair about a newcomer in their midst. Don Luis wasted no time few colonists were affected. They immediately blamed Ña Belén. And as if this weren’t in trying to find out about the life and miracles of the newly enough, they also accused her of being a poisoner and that she made children sick arrived individual, and whether or not he had filled out the with seizures. Popular fantasy, which sometimes amuses itself by creating the biggest established legal requirements and was personally willing to distortions, which it then passes off as the real thing, claimed that, at the slightest work. Were he not, this intruder could be certain that, with oversight by the mothers, Ña Belén would snatch their sick children and carry them away to no hesitation or second thoughts, he would be set on the her miserable shack in Las Calabazas, a great string of children, dead or moribund, hanging

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from her arm. She would then manipulate the bodies in night, stealthily made their way to the old woman’s shack, repulsive ways and would obtain a mysterious fat, which she killed her and buried her on what would later become the THE OLD would use, along with certain enigmatic signs and words, to site of a provisions store, of which the owner, who had transport herself, riding on her old broom, to the most far- a twisted sense of humour, named “The Old Lady of the flung places, which some believed to be the Canary Islands. Pumpkins”. LADY As is to be expected, such tales, which spread from one There are those that say neither of these stories is true, and person to the next, each time altered and enhanced some what happened was that the jealous and attentive Luis De more, caused alarm and spread panic among the mothers, Clouet understood that it was dangerous for the colony’s OF THE who did not dare leave their children alone even for a sense of calm for Ña Belén to remain there, and managed moment, particularly if they were sick. to convince her to leave, as her life depended on it, and the PUMPKINS It is hard to know to what extremes of violence such a old woman prudently chose to leave in the dead of night collective state of mind would have gone to among the without anyone seeing her. peaceful inhabitants of the early Cienfuegos settlement, (From the book: And when a curious woman asked Don Luis: “Traditions and Legends of had it gone on for longer. Fortunately, overnight, Ña Belén Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del disappeared without trace, and nobody was able to say “Where is Ñá Belén? What’s become of her?” Valle, 1919.) what had become of her, if she had died or if she had been He would reply, in his markedly French form of Spanish, and carried off by the devil. But because uncertainty has no with a sadly ironic tone: place in the mind of simple naive people, the explanation as to the mysterious disappearance of the Old Lady of the “Madam, the Old Lady of Pumpkins has gone, informing me Pumpkins came quickly. It was taken to be true and proven that she is prepared to come back, should the occasion arise, that, one Saturday, as soon as the witch flew up into the to grab any children whose mothers do not care for them sky, riding on her broom and with her great string of dead as they should, but, rest assured madam, that I will not let children hanging from her hand, holding a huge umbrella in the witch come back, as I know how to stop mothers from her other had and surrounded by bats and owls, a mother leaving their children unattended, punishing those who do.” who had just lost her young child saw her, at the exact And indeed, the witch, or whatever she was, did not return same time that the witch appeared to reach the moon, and to Fernandina de Jagua while Don Luis was alive. invoked the names of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. At that very moment, the cursed witch blew up like a rocket, her sparks Oh, you loving mothers who so idolise your children, do not flew across the heavens and disappeared below the horizon. abandon them, leaving them in the hands of strangers or mercenaries, to satisfy gossips with keen tongues or those Another explanation was given of the witch’s disappearance, eager for mundane amusement! Remember the Old Lady of without it gaining as much acceptance as the first, despite the Pumpkins, who may yet keep her fateful promise and being closer to the truth. It was rumoured that some locals take advantage of your lack of attention to snatch your who, like the rest of the village, blamed the witch for the child from you. epidemics and other misdemeanours, got together one

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To the south-east of the beautiful Cienfuegos Bay, there lies a leisure and work. The two loved one another, frantically, with lagoon of brackish water, into which the Arimao River partly inexhaustible passion, without yet knowing what it was to GUANAROCA flows. grow weary. From their union, Imao, the first son, was born.

(From the book: This is the Guanaroca lagoon, the glassy surface of which Guanaroca, finally a mother, poured all her care into her son, “Traditions and Legends of reflects the pale moon, the sweet Maroya of the Ciboney and the father, feeling left out, grew jealous and hatched Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del people, bringer of dew and benevolent protector of love. the criminal idea of snatching him from her. One night, while Valle, 1919.) According to the Ciboney legend, the Guanaroca lagoon is Guanaroca slept, Hamao picked up the tender child and took the true representation of the moon on earth. Do you know him off into the hills. The excessive heat and lack of food led the poetic tradition, dear reader? It is wild and primitive, like the poor weak creature to die. The father, to hide his grief, the simple beliefs of men living in direct contact with hot, then took a large green corn stalk, made a hole in it and untamed, exuberant nature. placed the infant’s cold body inside it, before hanging the stalk from a tree branch. In ancient times, Huion, the sun, would regularly leave the cavern that he used for shelter to rise into the sky and Upon awaking, and noticing the absence of husband and illuminate Ocon, the land, prodigious and fecund, but still child, Guanaroca rushed out to look for them. She wandered without humans. Huion had a wish: to create man, for there anxiously through the forest, calling vain for her loved ones, to be someone to admire and adore him, waiting every day and finally, defeated by her exhaustion, was about to fall to for him to appear, and who would see in him the all-powerful the ground, when the piercing cry of a black bird, probably the lord of warmth, light and life. smooth-billed ani, made her raise her head, her gaze settling on the corn stalk hanging from the nearby tree. Either due to From Huion’s magic spell there came Hamao, the first man. the innate curiosity that the first woman had already shown, The sun king now had someone to adore him, to greet him in or due to a strange premonition, Guanaroca felt compelled the mornings with respectful joy from the happy valleys and to climb the tree and grab the stalk. She saw that it was mountain peaks. This was enough for Huion, and he worried perforated and, horrified, thought she could see the body of no further for Hamao, for whom the great love that he felt for her beloved child inside. So great was her pain and so intense his creator was not enough to fill his heart. He found himself the emotion, she felt faint and the stalk fell from her hands, alone, in the midst of nature’s splendour, with exuberant falling to the ground; as it broke, she was horrified to see that vegetation full of beings that came together to love one out of the stalk there came fish, turtles of various sizes and another. In the midst of such universal manifestations of life a large amount of liquid that spilled out, running downhill. and love, Hamao felt his spirit flagging and the pointlessness The greatest wonder that Guanaroca had seen then occurred of his solitary existence. – the fish formed the rivers that run through the Jagua The sensitive and sweet Maroya, the moon, feeling sorry territory, the largest of the turtles turned into the Majagua for Hamao, and to sweeten his experience, gave him a peninsula, and the others, in order of size, became the other companion, creating Guanaroca, or rather, the first woman. keys. The burning salty tears of the unhappy mother, who Great was the first man’s joy. Finally he had someone with wept inconsolably over the death of her beloved son, form the whom he could share pleasures and pains, joy and sadness, lagoon and the labyrinth that bears her name: Guanaroca.

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Ten years after De Clouet founded the “Fernandina de will remember the legend of Guanaroca. In a jealous rage, Hamao, the first man, buried THE BLACK Jagua” colony and, at his behest, on 20 May 1829, “Don his young son Imo or Imao in a corn stalk, which he hung from a tree. When the mother, Fernando VII by the grace of God, King of Castile, etc.”, Guanaroca, the first mother, discovers the stalk, it falls from her hands, and from it there residing at that time in Aranjuez, granted Cienfuegos the spill several fish and turtles of varying sizes. The fish turned into the rivers that flow into VENUS status of royal burgh, “as the place best suited for the the broad Jagua bay, the largest turtle became the Majagua peninsula, and the others population living there, and to perpetuate in the colony turned into the various keys. In a fight with a large fish or sea monster, the largest turtle, (From the book: the surname of the late honourable Don José Cienfuegos, the hawksbill, somehow lost its left leg, as it came off, floated in the water and became “Traditions and Legends of author and protector of such a useful settlement, etc.”. “Cayo Loco”. Between the geological and the mythological explanations, readers are free Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del to choose the one that best suits their tastes and inclinations. Valle, 1919.) Having settled, built their shacks and begun working the land, the group of colonists chosen to form the population A surprise was awaiting the colonists when they first visited Cayo Loco. On it they found along the wide, majestic bay of Jagua began to take an a young black woman living, dressed only in what mother nature had provided. She was interest, both out of natural curiosity and a desire to know extremely well mannered, and her figure so perfect, that the most demanding artist what the surrounding area held, as well as to fish and would have considered her a model of feminine beauty. Such was the effect that she hunt, in exploring the superb bay, easily the rival of Nipe, caused among the colonists that they named her the “Black Venus” and the “Ebony visiting its various outcrops, inlets, keys and swamps, and Beauty”, although the former was more common. heading up its rivers, and finding ample reasons to admire and feel a sense of satisfaction in the unique area that Upon seeing the colonists, the woman fled, not from shyness but from fear. They ran they had made their home. after her, and caught her up, but whatever they said to her, she would not respond, and simply stared at them with her large, frightened eyes. At first they thought that she They certainly weren’t the first settlers, however. Before didn’t understand the languages in which they were talking to her, but they later became them, for countless generations, it had been home to convinced that she did not talk because she was mute. the Ciboney people, now since disappeared due to the pressures of colonisation, which itself was unable to take Even though she was the only inhabitant of that key, and had no one to impress but into account the idiosyncrasy of these simple people not herself, she (a woman, after all) adorned her splendid nudity with necklaces and bracelets accustomed to hard labour. As a primitive race, when they made from strings of seeds from lianas and trees, and from shells and conches. disappeared they left no trace other than the memory of their customs, their language and their traditions. Having said that she lived alone, that isn’t quite the truth. She had two winged companions, a blue heron and a white dove, who had been tamed to such an extent One of the keys that the colonists first visited was Cayo that wherever she went, they went with her, the dove usually on her shoulder, with the Loco or Crazy Key, also known as Cayo Güije, in the port heron going before her. It was fascinating to see these gracious birds spread their wings, itself. It’s said that this key was formed by the bits of earth stretching their necks and placing their beaks in the mouth of their mistress, like a mute and vegetation dragged down by the currents and heavy caress. flow of the rivers, helped by the sea’s tidal movements and the winds. Scientifically this does seem to be the case. One of the colonists, in a show of compassion, took the Black Venus home with him, The Ciboney tradition is very different, however. Readers fed her and gave her clothes to wear. The man thought that, as a reward for his

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compassionate gesture, the beautiful negress would gladly According to Pedro Modesta, on one afternoon back in THE BLACK perform the tasks that he bade her, as it is reasonably 1876, when he was a child, and while a large military common that behind an apparent act of philanthropy hides convoy was moving out, a black and by now elderly woman selfishness, and that favours are given with a view to being crept into his house. Her hair looked like a huge bobble of VENUS rewarded. Upon finding herself captive with the pretext of white cotton. She was completely naked, wearing only a having been done a favour, the Black Venus, born to live necklace of blue, red and white beads. (From the book: free and without shackles in the midst of nature, being “Traditions and Legends of unable to protest with words, did so instead with deeds, Pedro’s family gave her clothes to wear, which she refused, Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del an altogether more eloquent form of protest. She took to and they had to use force to get her to cover up. She was Valle, 1919.) spending hours and hours curled up in a corner, passively served abundant and varied food, but abstained from any refusing to get up, work or eat. As the days passed, she seasoned dishes, yet devoured raw bananas, agave and became thinner and thinner at an alarming rate, and sweet potato with alarming speed. They allowed her to fearful that she would starve to death, the colonist took spend the night there, and the following morning, when her back to Cayo Loco to live again in freedom, in the they went to look for her, found only the clothes. She took company of her loyal winged companions, eating wild fruit with her only her large bead necklace, the only thing she and birds that she skilfully hunted, crab, oysters, clams and felt was right to adorn her body. all manner of seafood that the sea’s bounty offered up to her. That woman was the Black Venus, from whom the years had taken her youthful beauty. It was the last time she Every time that the locals of Cienfuegos tried to bring was seen. She mysteriously disappeared, and was never the Venus Negra into civilised life, putting her up in their heard of again. homes and providing her with gowns, she would refuse to work or eat, and in the end they chose not to bother Today, the Black Venus has become a figure of legend, her, letting her live as she pleased, queen and lady of embodying the negro’s mute protest against slavery. It is the solitary key, the blue heron and white dove her only also the affirmation of the wild being who loves freedom subjects. and refuses to adapt to the shackles of civilisation. Popular fantasy, ever poetic and creative, has it that on nights with The Black Venus isn’t one of those people of legend, more a new moon, and preferably when it is raining, as solitude made up than real, created through popular fantasy. and quiet are more likely, the Black Venus comes out of her The Black Venus was a being of flesh and blood, and secret hiding place and wanders around the abandoned her existence is accounted for by, among others, Pedro courtyards and the lonely streets, bringing comfort to the Modesto Hernández, from Cienfuegos, and who knows helpless and restful sleep to those who are suffering. better than anyone of the past and present of his beloved homeland, who provided the information used in publishing this book.

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Jagua got ready to honour its hero, the victor of the fierce As he came in front of the cacique, Ornoya tried to give a low bow, but the cacique stopped ORNOYA and terrible Lucayan cacique, Ornocoy. him, saying: The name Ornoya was on everyone’s lips: it was mentioned “The son of Huoion should kneel before no mortal. Your father sent you to save these Jagua (From the book: with pride by elders, with admiration by young warriors, lands from invasions and raids by the fierce Lucayans. You rose to the challenge. You carried “Traditions and Legends of with joy by children, with gratitude by mothers and with your brothers to victory and you in noble battle you defeated the bold and feared Orconoy, Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del love by damsels. who will no longer spread terror and despair amongst us. The people of Jagua salute you Valle, 1919.) and honour you as their saviour, and your achievements, passed down from one generation The elderly Ciboney cacique wanted to reward the intrepid to the next, perpetuated by legend, will still be heard in ages to come, your name being leader as he deserved. immortalised on earth, as an example of those who defend the safety of the home and the In the large batey or central plaza, surrounded by leafy freedom and independence of the homeland.” kapok trees, slender palms and swaying wild canes, people Having finished, he removed his necklace and placed it around Ornoya’s neck, and gave him gathered for the grand ceremony to honour the hero. The his solid club. The young warrior sat down next to the elderly cacique, and the festivities Cansí, or mansion of the cacique, which stood facing the began. batey, was adorned with multi-coloured cotton blankets, forming a large canopy on one side, under which sat the They started with a game of batos, led by the tequina or chief. The two sides, one of young Ciboney cacique, surrounded by the chief behique, the men and the other of young women, lined up opposite each other, and at the signal of the principal elders and other members of his court. tequina, the ball was tossed into the air, which was then sent back and forth from one team to the other, the players making sure to grab it in the air, either before or after it bounced The sound of sea shell horns being blown and voices on the ground. The side that failed to return the ball, lost a point. singing war hymns could be heard in the distance. The crowd made way, leaving part of the batey, and after a This was followed by dances and songs, accompanied by atabal drums, made from hollow time, at one end of the plaza, four young Indians appeared, wood, whistles made from vines or bean pods, or large sea shell horns, made by cutting blowing occasionally into the hoarse, thunderous sea a hole through them. The samba, the lead singer, sang the first verse of a song, to a shells. They were followed by the warriors, and there was rhythmical, monotonous tune, and then repeated the chorus. First to dance were the Ornoya, sporting his brightest feathers and wearing a fine damsels, who displayed all their grace and powers of seduction in honour of Ornoya, then it cloak dotted with thin shells over his shoulders, a necklace was the men’s turn to dance, and finally they danced together. with thick pearly beads and gold bracelets on his wrists. Behind him, with their hands tied, their eyes down, with a The last events of the festivities were simulations of war. Two sides came forward to face sullen gaze, walked the six crestfallen defeated caciques, one another, each with a leader, and on a signal from the cacique, they acted out an attack who were subjected to the ridicule and mockery of the with their spears and clubs, moving and spinning quickly to strike and dodge the blows from crowd. At the tail of the procession was a large group of their weapons. Ciboney warriors, signing war songs, some armed with The last rays of the sun were heading behind the neighbouring hill when the festivities spears, others with clubs, and all with a quiver full of finally came to an end, and in honour of the invincible warrior, the entire Jagua settlement, arrows and a large bow hanging from the waist. all together in the large batey, cried out loud and long: “Ornoya! “Ornoya! Ornoya!” As Ornoya passed, he was greeted with cheers, and flowers And the echo of their cries was as though his glorious name would last for eternity, so that and leaves were thrown at his feet. Mothers lifted their other eras and other races would one day know of him. children up to better see the hero, and the damsels smiled at him lovingly and admiringly.

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The colonial government was not keen on building roads from the trunk of a copperwood tree. It aroused curiosity, and now it was not only those THE CHRIST and highways, with major consequences for the country, walking the road forced to pass by who would stop, in admiration and contrition, but which was unable to make the most of its wealth and curious people would come from far and wide who had heard about the divine apparition. natural resources, and clearly making life difficult for It did not take long for it to be thought of as miraculous intervention, which the facts OF THE people, who to get from one point of the island to another would appear to confirm. The kind-hearted Christ gave protection to travellers and had to make arduous journeys that could often be restored the sick to health. But as if this were not enough, it was said that through his dangerous. largesse he also helped the poor who would humbly approach and throw themselves at PATHWAY his feet, asking for relief from their ills, to have their health restored, or for a remedy for These inconveniences did not stop neighbouring Trinidad this shortcomings and misery. The miraculous fame of the Christ of the Pathway quickly (From the book: (which was founded in 1514 following an order given spread throughout the Jagua area, then up into the Sierra, into the Táyaba valley and the “Traditions and Legends of by Diego Velásquez de Cuellar, Conqueror of Cuba, land that would later be known as Las Villas, and people of all class and status made their Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del coincidentally while visiting the port of Jagua) managing way to the spot, some in search of health, others asking for money, and some for both. Valle, 1919.) to prosper thanks to its maritime location, the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit of its inhabitants, and the Unfortunately, not everything always goes to plan, and true happiness is not so easily benefits it reaped from contraband in an era of strict trade attained. It is not therefore overly strange for something bad to follow something good, prohibitions. For the opposite reason, its prosperity grew and, indeed, staying true to that law, next to the apparition of the miraculous Christ of the by declaring that it was free of trade and by developing Pathway, doer of good deeds, the presence of other mysterious figures began to be felt, coffee plantations and factories. who were far from holy, and who were devoted to that very human task of robbing from others and taking what they had on them. In the era of the legend of the Christ of the Pathway, Trinidad still retained all its old splendour and wealth, So while the miraculous Christ, caring and kind-hearted, cured the sick with the crystal- which had made it famous both in Cuba and overseas. The clear water that sprang from the foot of the cross, and generously helped the needy by railway line to Havana did not yet exist, and going by boat quietly depositing a few coins in their saddlebags or elsewhere in their saddle, other as far as Batabanó was difficult, long and unsafe, so for individuals, hiding in the marshes or in the scrubland of the hills, waiting for the naive the people of Trinidad to get to the capital, they had to traveller to pass, ready to steal their bag and any valuable items of clothing they might take the old track from Trinidad to Havana, which ran close be wearing. Such were the attacks and robberies that there were few who would dare to to Jagua castle, la Milpa, Pasa Caballos and Las Auras. The pass through without being accompanied by friends or an armed escort, as the only way last of these places, Las Auras, was where the virtuous to prevent an attack from bandits. protectors of the Ciboney people, Bartolomé de las Casas and Pedro de la Rentería, who did so much to help the As well as the attacks and robberies, there were also kidnappings, carried out with Indians, lived around 1511. considerable audacity and on nearby farms, and which went unpunished, leading to a sense of fear and disquiet among the people living in the area. One day, a few people walking along the track were surprised by the mysterious apparition of a human-sized The Governor of the Island in those calamitous times was the successor of Ricafort and Christ, which was hanging from a thick, rough cross made the predecessor of Ezpeleta, a famous general, servile in Spain and tyrannical in Cuba,

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who during the time that he was governor, from 1834 The gossips who took to saying that the hanged man had THE CHRIST to 1838, was the first to sow discord among islanders the same face as Christ later stated that a partner of the and Spaniards, opposed constitutional freedoms being dead man from the Canary Islands used the loot from established in the colony, and who, as proconsul, harshly his thieving, robberies and kidnapping. For years, large OF THE put an end to abuses, halting gambling, imprisoning and amounts of money obtained from such illicit means were deporting wrongdoers, and successfully persecuted thieves stored in earthenware pitchers known as botijas, used and highway robbers. to store olive oil, hidden in a black well in the batey of PATHWAY a certain farm. At the start of the 1868 war, the pitchers It so happened, therefore, that one morning, those who were taken out and broken, and part of the money was (From the book: had to travel along the danger spots, were surprised by used to buy a stone, with which a house was built in which “Traditions and Legends of the macabre sight of a dead man hanging by a rope from the sinful soul of the Christ of the Pathway aimlessly Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del the branches of the ancient copperwood tree. The morning wanders in anguish. Another, larger part of the money was Valle, 1919.) breeze made the body swing gently, around which hungry spent on lawsuits and stamped paper, according to the vultures were circling. superstitious, who believe that ill-gotten gains come to no good, which unfortunately does not seem to be confirmed Was it a suicide, a murder, an act of vengeance or justice? by the facts. Incredulous folk, however, who have no faith It was hard to know what had happened. What was in the fair-minded plans of providence, are convinced, beyond doubt was that the hanged man, judging by his although we have no way of knowing why, that the money face and his clothes, was the same man crucified on the in question is stored away in the safety deposit boxes of a pathway. foreign bank, to Cuba’s sad loss.

Of course, it must have been no more than an illusion that Who is right in all this? Who knows?! In these delicate would have had more people incredulous than ready to matters, in which history and legend are so closely believe, but what is true is that from that day on, after the connected, it is hard to come to a definite solution, and hanged man appeared, the robberies and armed attacks the impartial narrator (which we hope to be) must stick to that had made journeys through Las Auras to La Sierra relating the different opinions, without making any claims so dangerous ceased to occur, and what is even more ourselves. extraordinary and inexplicable, is that the miracles that the Christ of the Pathway had performed and dispensed We must, therefore, be satisfied by knowing that there was also ceased to occur. And in keeping with the law of a Christ of the Pathway, who bestowed gifts, and at the contrasts and opposites, just as after a good thing came same time there was a bandit, who robbed and kidnapped, the bad, so it happened that once the latter disappeared, and that although they would seem to be two separate so did the former. And some of the poor folk who received people, there are those who believe them to have been one gifts no doubt missed the bandits who attacked and and the same. kidnapped those with considerable means.

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Hamao, with the jealous feelings that the god of evil sowed On his return, Caunao began to gather them together into a pile, and was about to load in his heart, had felt the first pain; Guanaroca, with the loss them into the basket, when a ray of moonlight hit the pile of fruit, and from them there JAGUA of her son, the first and biggest pain that a mother can grew a wonderful being, and a different sex to that of Caunao. feel. Hamao eventually realised how irrational his jealousy It was a woman. (From the book: was, and came to understand a father’s love. Guanaroca “Traditions and Legends of forgave him, and as a result, some time later, their second A young, beautiful woman, sunny, with beautiful manners, velvet-smooth golden skin, Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del son was born: Caunao. with large, soulful and expressive eyes, with a red, smiling mouth, and long, full jet-black Valle, 1919.) hair. Happy and peaceful was his childhood, under the constant loving protection of his mother. The boy became a man, Caunao gazed on with a growing sense of ecstasy. As though enchanted, he felt that his and began to feel a sense of vague concern and a deep heart was shedding all sense of sadness and of melancholy, replaced by joy and love. No sadness. He was unable to realise how it affected his state longer would he walk through life alone. He had someone to love, and to love him. of mind, making him indifferent to life in general. One day, This beautiful companion, created from a moon ray and a pile of ripe fruit, was a gift from on returning to his lonely hut, he stopped to watch two Maroya, the goddess of the night, who, just as she had solved the loneliness of Hamaom, little birds who were sharing affectionate caresses on a the first man, by sending him Guanaroca, the first woman, so did she wish to bring joy to tree branch. It was then that he understood the reason the existence of Caunao, their son, by sending him the gift of another woman. for his sorrow. He was alone in the world, and had no companion to caress and to be caressed by, with whom he Caunao loved her from the very first moment with all the passion of which his young could share his troubles, his joys, his hopes and dreams. heart, starved of affection, was capable. He made her his, and she was the mother of his children. There was only one woman on earth, and that was Guanaroca, who had given birth to him. This second woman was called Jagua, a word that means richness, mine, spring, source and beginning. And her name was also given to the tree from whose fruit she had Wandering around the countryside, trying in vain to emerged, and due to which it was considered sacred. Jagua, the wife of Caunao, was who distract himself from his feelings of loneliness, he saw a set down the laws to the natives, the peaceful Ciboney, to whom she taught the art of leafy tree, tall and round. fishing and of hunting, the growing of crops, songs, dance and how to cure different types From its branches hung abundant fruit, large, oval and of sickness. brownish in colour. Many of them were fully ripe, and were Guanaroca was the mother of the first men; Jagua the mother of the first women. The dropping from the tree, falling to the ground and breaking children of Guanaroca, mother of Caunao, procreated with the daughters of Jagua, and apart, with some of them revealing their fleshy interior and from those first couples came all the humans on earth. small seeds. According to the Dominican tradition, Cihualohuatl, the serpent woman, was the Caunao felt an irresistible desire to taste the fruit, and, mythological Eve who gave birth two by two, always a male and a female, to ensure the picking up one of the more attractive specimens, sunk his species would reproduce and perpetuate. teeth into it. The taste was bitter-sweet and pleasing, and Caunao savoured the abundant gift of food that nature The Ciboney tradition is more moral in nature. Guanaroca, the Cuban Eve, only had sons, had so generously provided. and in turn, Jagua, the second Eve, only had daughters, joining in union as couples for reproduction. Such was his enjoyment that he headed home for a palm- leaf basket to fill with the rare fruit, which he found to be so tasty.

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“You cry as much as Pamua.” In my opinion, Pamua, a corruption or poor translation of the French pour-moi, was the name PAMUÁ given to the individual also known as Lagrimita or Teary One. “Yes, she’s a pretty girl, but the creature cries more than (From the book: Pamua.” Nobody knows exactly when Pamua arrived in Fernandina de Jagua. Some claim that he was “Traditions and Legends of a travelling companion of Don Luis and of the early settlers from Bordeaux. Others say that he Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del “He’s stingy and a scrounger like Pamua.” arrived some time after, in the expedition that came later from New Orleans in 1821. And there Valle, 1919.) are those who claim that he arrived in a schooner from Santiago de Cuba, and a few people “Don’t pester me; you make less sense than Pamua.” believe he was from Santa Clara. But if there are doubts about when and how he came to Fernandina de Jagua, his place of birth is even more of a mystery, and the only thing everyone “Be careful with Juan; he’s more of a tattletale than Pamua.” can agree on is that he was not born under a Cuban sky.

And always Pamua... Pamua was a tall man, slim, strong, almost athletic, a tough fellow who had lived a bit; he had a small, bony head, pale green eyes, a snub nose, large mouth, his teeth consisted of two upper Who could this person be who is so frequently named, and who canine teeth and four long and yellowing incisors, a long, thin, greying moustache, a few rough from my experience must break the record for tears, whining grey whiskers on his chin, and short greying hair. and nonsense, and who moreover suffered from the major personality defect of being a snitch? His clothing was almost always an old, threadbare military coat that was too tight, short- sleeved, suggesting that the deceased owner had been smaller. It still had a few golden buttons To discover the history of this name, I went searching in on it, and the outfit was completed with a felt hat and flannel trousers also with a military cut. biographical dictionaries. Nothing did I find. I went about the His feet went as unshod as the day he was born, and had grown through use. same investigations in encyclopaedias, with the same result. When I set about asking our Academy of History, I was told A popular chap, both ridiculed and feared at the same time, as according to all he had a silver by an old and elderly friend of the institution that Pamua had tongue that every day would whisper into the ears of the Founder, recounting everything that been a local fellow of popular tradition, from the early years happened in Fernandina de Jagua. of the colony. But that’s all I was able to glean. I then decided to enquire about various notices about such a busy figure and He had the tricky skill of being able to produce tears at will, something that he used greatly using information taken from here and there that I have been to his favour, which would have been the envy of the wailing and weeping women of old. Over able to find about his character and customs. anything and over nothing, he would suddenly launch into pitiful moaning, and from his eyes would flow a stream of tears, leading to the colonist either feeling sorry for him or fearing I don’t intend to write his biography, as no narrative would him, always managing to get what he wanted. With all this and his relations with Don Luis he be worthy of the name of the facts about the man of whom managed to get along, and there are those who believe that he managed to save a few hundred nothing is known about his lineage, his actual legitimate name Seville reales. or where he was born, and with mystery hanging over the village, town or city where the mortal remains of such a famous His cautious cat-like gait and his suspicious gaze completed his intriguing and challenging individual were laid to rest. physique.

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He worked for Don Luis, who through him enjoyed an abundant With such a treasure of a wife, with the visits of Pamua and the reputation of the Founder with PAMUÁ source of information, until one day through his own bad regard to ladies, anyone in the tailor’s position would have taken precautions. Which is what luck he became involved with a certain Frenchman, a tailor by the Monsieur did, and with great noise and commotion he protested amorously to his Madame, (From the book: trade, who had been entrusted with maintaining order in the but neither of them amended their ways or admitted their errors. The Frenchman therefore “Traditions and Legends of colony and was one of the valiant defenders in the battle of the changed tactic and, using flattery, managed to attract the attention of Pamua, though flattery Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del Yuquinos. were hardly needed to have him buzzing around like a bothersome fly. Thus, on one visit Pamua Valle, 1919.) obtained a buckle, and the next day a button, and so on, until one day he ordered a coat. Greatly concerned as he was with maintaining the reputation of his business, he was even more so with that of his own honour, The tailor accepted the order and was all smiles as he took his measurements, promising him to the extent that gossips of the time said that he would see that on Sunday by the latest, before mass, he would be able to try it on. visions, something that was, to a certain extent, true. The tailor, it is said, had a young French woman as a companion, the most Sunday came, and as the faithful walked past the tailor’s door, which incidentally displayed a beautiful woman that anyone had laid eyes on in Cienfuegos, sign that read: “French tailor of H.M. the King and Emperor”, they noticed that the workshop was tall, graceful, elegantly dressed, with wavy, golden hair, eyes of shut, and that from inside they could hear a voice begging and sobbing with pitiful wailing, and the purest sky blue, coral-red lips, beautiful pearls, swan-like they recognised that the voice who wept and wailed so deeply belonged to Pamua. And they all neck, arms of a goddess, hands of a sylph, breasts... I will not thought more or less the same thing: go on for fear of exaggerating what was told to me. I will only add that to cap it all as regards just how perfect she was, this “Looks like it’s the tailor’s turn to suffer Pamua’s annoying requests.” Madame had a voice so sweet and with such a lovely tone, that nightingales would wish to have to sing their romantic And there was the odd voice or two that called out, so it could be heard: laments, such were her charms and beauty in terms of grace and agreeableness, worthy of being an olive-skinned lady of “Don’t give in, Maestro. Don’t go soft, Monsieur.” Cienfuegos. It later transpired that the tailor had measured Pamua’s body and had him try on swathes of As the French woman realised that she enjoyed being admired, guava leaves cut from the immediate environs of San Alejandro, threatening him that if he she spent a large part of the day at her window, where she saw him anywhere near his house again, the vultures would enjoy a sumptuous feast on the would receive greetings, compliments and visits, including from Marsillán beach. Pamua or Lagrimita, with his eternal requests for pour-moi. Wisdom comes from learning, and Pamua took the tailor at his word, and was never seen or As said, he was the confidante, protégé and blabber-mouth of heard of again. Some claim that Pamua, like a soul taken by the devil, on that same Sunday the Founder, who, although he was the Governor, a Christian afternoon and without taking leave of his protector or saying goodbye to anyone, set off for and all round great man, he had the reputation in his younger Trinidad, where he died; others say that he reached Santiago de Cuba, where he ended his days days of calling on certain windows and of drinking from the in an alms-house. wells of others. And there are those who say that Luis de Docluet never got over the loss of his faithful Pamua.

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Aipirí was a beautiful mestiza from prehistoric Jagua. One child followed another, until there were six, but there was no change to the wayward Arrogant, coquettish, chatty, given to dressing in bright mother’s behaviour. She continued with her long, furtive escapades, without her poor naive LA colours, with stones and shells, earrings and bracelets in husband finding out. The children were constantly left alone, went hungry, lived a life of red metal, and bright red flowers in her hair to stand out abandonment and misery, picked up bad habits and were always crying, filling the air with TATAGUA from the other women and attract attention to herself. the constant sound of waah, waah, waah. How pretty Aipirí was! As their pretty hut stood on its own the middle of the countryside, Aipirí never worried that her children’s crying might bother the neighbours, nor that they would ever tell her husband. (From the book: Svelte, olive-skinned, with full black hair and almond eyes, She hadn’t counted on Mabuya, the genie of evil, who is everywhere and who is by no means “Traditions and Legends of with an insinuating, caressing, provocative gaze. She sang amused by the prolonged, unending crying of children. It has to be said that he has good and danced with great passion. Her greatest pleasure was Cienfuegos”, by Adrián del reason, as only a mother’s patience can suffer the unpleasant sound of children wailing with to attend parties and celebrations, where she could show Valle, 1919.) good grace. off her melodious voice and her graceful skills as a dancer. Mabuya, tired of hearing them and seeing that there seemed to be no end to their crying, nor Pursued in love by a great Ciboney hunter, she her destiny of the mother’s dances, festivities and lack of care, perhaps feared that those poorly brought to his and would have set up a modest, pleasant but up children would grow up as heartless, cruel and inhumane as he was. In a fit of temper, happy home, if her aspirations had matched those of a he transformed them into a kind of poisonous shrub, known today as guao, or toothed hard-working woman who lived for her husband and her maidenplum. children. But for Aipirí that was not enough. In the plant kingdom, the guao is rather like a stigma, a dry and sterile tree, its resin and She hadn’t been born to lead a quiet life, looking after leaves cause swelling and sores, and its very shadow is said to be harmful. According to the the home and other people. She loved her diversions too tradition, that is what the children of Aipirí were turned into, at the fault of the uncaring much, the pleasures of life, songs, dances, adornments, the mother. flattery, the praise. Thus it was that, after a short time, the home for her became a pain, and barely had she given If the spirit of evil had to punish the children for the faults of the mother, the spirit of birth to her first child before she felt nostalgia for her time goodness, which is more just, imposed a corrective measure on the person responsible for as a damsel, and the tender child’s charms failed to steal the harm done, that it might be taken as an example. It transformed Aipirí into Tatagua, a her heart. She fought it at first, and tried to remove herself nocturnal butterfly with a thick body and short wings, also known as a bruja or witch. from temptation’s path. The instinct of her free-spirited, There is a general belief that brujas or large butterflies that are dark in colour had an evil untamed nature was proved stronger than a mother’s significance, announcing a misfortune and even the death of a relative wherever they enter. love, and she began to go missing from the home, her It is a distortion of the true meaning assigned to the tradition of the tatagua or bruja when it absences becoming longer, until she was spending more flies into a home, flies around and then lands. time elsewhere than at home. And while the abandoned child would cry, his uncaring mother would spend time According to this tradition, by transforming the mother who ignored her duties into the making merry with neighbours or attending gatherings nocturnal butterfly, the good spirit made it so that, when the butterfly shows itself to and celebrations, entertaining folk with her songs and mothers, it warns them of the sacred nature of their obligations, and that, regardless of any the elegance of her dances. When evening fell, she would festivities, dances or celebrations, they must never abandon their innocent children. return home, just before her husband would get back from Good and saintly mothers of Cienfuegos, who devote your waking hours to the care of the his daily arduous excursions into the hills in search of fruit of your loins, when you see a Tatagua butterfly in the home, think on whether you have sustenance. missed any of your duties in the daily ups and downs of the care that you provide.

61 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Carlos Venegas Fornias, urban history researcher

Iran Millán, director of the Conservation Office of the city of Cienfuegos

Roxana Labairu, deputy director of the Conservation Office of the city of Cienfuegos

Regional Office of the Ministry of Tourism in Cienfuegos

Staff at Hotel Unión

Staff at Hotel Jagua

Yander Zamora, photographer

62 © Meliá Cuba 2018